Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire
by Lord-Drakos
Summary: ON HIATUS. Discovering his magic at an early age, Harry Potter set's out on a journey of adventure. An encounter with a Goa'uld however, sets him on the path of conquest and godhood. Powerful-Godlike Harry. Goa'uld Harry. Gray Harry. Rated M for violence and language. Warning: Contains Cliches.
1. Discovery

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text" - Speech.

'Text' - Thoughts.

**This is a repost/rewrite of my Rise of an Empire story, I know a lot of you have been wondering where this went and why it was no longer posted. Unfortunately, due to mistakes on my part, the story was deleted/lost after I'd first taken it down for a rewrite.**

**Luckily, the wonderful Darth Xion had a saved copy that he recently sent to me, allowing me to post this story once again.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Discovery**

For the first time in my nine years of life, I feel a great deal of joyful excitement.

Why? Because I've found a treasure, something that I can claim as mine and mine alone.

As an impoverished orphan, I don't have many belongings of my own, not even the very clothes on my back can be considered mine. I have never received a gift from my '_beloved_' relatives, the Dursleys, nor have I ever been able to buy an item that could be considered mine.

Yet, even though life has been less than ideal for me so far, I cant really complain, mainly because I know things could be far, far worse. That is why I endure, endure the beatings, endure the starvation, endure the darkness of my small, cramped cupboard and endure the bullying. Simply because I know that things could be worse, yet I continue to pray they would get better.

A prayer that seems to have been somewhat answered, as today was a very good day. Somehow, through the most unusual of circumstances, I'd managed to find my little treasure.

Earlier this very day I had been running, terrified and scared, from my cousin and his gang. I dimly remember wishing I was elsewhere and just as I dived behind a rubbish bin in a futile attempt at hiding, I heard a loud crack and suddenly felt like I was being crushed and sucked through a straw.

An instant later I found myself being spat out on the school roof.

_'How did that happen by the way?'_ I ponder, my thoughts drifting back to that moment. _'It's like I just teleported there or something.'_

I made a note to look into it, before turning my attention back to my original thoughts.

Where was I?

Oh yes, the roof. That was where I had found it, my treasure.

It had been laying right at my feet when I appeared on the rooftop, the sunlight glinting off of its sleek surface and drawing my attention. When I'd looked down at the flash of light, I found a small, metal orb, roughly the size of a marble. It was perfectly round and smooth, and while I wasn't sure what exactly it was, I could make a good guess. It was probably some kids marble or something, and somehow they'd gotten it thrown onto the roof.

At that time however, I didn't really care who's it was or how they'd lost it, I just wanted it; finder keepers and all that. So I kept it.

I picked it up, surprised at its weight, and tucked it away in my pocket. The ball was way heavier than it looked, whatever it was made of must be pretty dense, not that it really made a difference to me. I found it and I plan on keeping it no matter what.

I just have to make it home with it hidden and hope that Dudley and his gang don't find me, they would steal my treasure if they did.

* * *

**-General P.O.V-**

Sitting in his cupboard later that night, Harry finally had a chance to go over the entire days events. The ball was held tightly in his hands but Harry wasn't paying it any attention at the moment, his thoughts were on the '_roof incident_' as he'd started calling it. This was not the first time something strange had happened around Harry, ever since he could remember, strange events had been happening to him or around him.

Now, while many would think him stupid or at least below average, Harry was actually a very smart boy, he just chose to hide that intelligence from his relatives and the bullies at school. Being smarter than the average nine year old, he knew it wasn't normal for people's hair to change color when he was upset with them, he knew is wasn't normal to regrow a full head of hair overnight, he knew it wasn't normal to heal cuts, bruises and broken bones overnight and he definitely knew that it wasn't possible for someone to teleport.

Harry Potter knew that all these things were impossible, or improbable at the very least, yet he had done each and every one.

This led Harry to one conclusion, he wasn't normal. There was something abnormal about him, something that let him do all these strange things and he was going to find out what. But.. that was a task for tomorrow, it was already really late and he was quite tired after a long day.

Tucking the metal ball under his pillow, Harry lay down and went to sleep.

* * *

**-One Week Later. Harry's P.O.V-**

After a week of research and testing, I've finally discovered what my strange abilities are. Magic, honest to god magic.

Strangely enough, I didn't find the answers in a book or through some sort of unexplainable epiphany. Nope, the answers had come from, as unlikely as it may seem, the Dursleys of all people.

I'd suspected that they knew something about my abilities, after all they often ranted about how abnormal I am or how much of a freak I am. I also suspected that my parents had these abilities as well, a theory backed up by my Aunt's many rants about her freak sister and her freakier husband.

So, if the Dursleys knew about my powers, how could I get the information from them? If I asked any direct questions, I would likely end up getting punished and locked in my cupboard.

The answer to my dilemma was quite simple actually, I decided that I would use words that best described my abilities around them and see which drew the most reaction. The few words that first came to mind were mutant, alien and magic, I decided to use each in a conversation and see which had the greater effect.

Mutant was a no go, I must have used it at least four times in an hour and all I got was a snide insult and some more chores to do.

Alien only got me strange looks and low mutters about my stupidity, that was out as well.

Magic on the other hand, well that was pure explosive. The second the word left my mouth, I saw Petunia stiffen while Vernon turned a shade of purple I usually associated with cartoon characters.

Discovering that I can actually do magic was well worth the week long punishment and eavesdropping on the Dursleys after the big blow up also led me to believe that there are others out there with these powers, an entire community if what I overheard was to be believed. While I couldn't go off and find these others, I could still research magic itself and try to learn how to wield it on my own.

So, for the past couple of days I've spent a majority of my free time in the school library, looking up everything to do with magic and the occult. I received various types of answers from fantasy stories, comic books and occult tomes, each had something different to say about the subject but I noticed that a majority of them had a few things in common.

_'Hmm, the one thing most of these agree on is that magic is powered by my will and directed by my intent.'_ I muse, skimming through the large book on the desk before me. _'If I can gather enough willpower, and direct it properly, I should be able to use my magic.'_

Excited to finally use my magic, I decided to give it a try and pulled a pencil from my book bag, levitation should be a simple enough trick.

* * *

Thirty minutes later and I was no closer to making my pencil levitate, it was just so hard to focus. Each time I tried to concentrate on levitating the pencil, I was distracted by a stray thought or a noise from my surroundings. Frustrated with my continued failure, I packed up my things and left the library, heading towards my classroom as the bell signifying the end of my lunch hour rang.

As classes ended for the day, I decided to get some help from the teacher, she was always telling us that we needed to focus after all. I brought my focusing problem up with her, alluding my problems in class with a difficulty to focus, never mind that I could be in the top five if I actually tried; but then I would score higher than Dudley and we wouldn't want that.

Listening to my problem, she suggested that I take a look at a book on meditation, either that or see the school nurse about a possible case of ADD, I chose meditation.

The book was easy to find as I'd memorized most of the libraries organization system by this point, and after the first few pages I was glad to say that it was just what I need. Should I follow through with the various meditation exercises, I should be able to calm my mind and focus my thoughts, and through that, access my magic.

Excited to begin, I checked out the book and headed home. In my cupboard, I could freely practice the exercises written in the book without too much distraction.

* * *

**-One Month Later. General P.O.V-**

Through the art of meditation, Harry managed to both calm his mind and increase his focus, among other perks.

He had been quite surprised when he discovered that his memory increased greatly from his meditation, to the point that he could recall almost everything he'd read and experienced within the last two years or so, memories before then were too blurry and distant. Some books called it eidetic memory but Harry thought it had more to do with the meditation techniques that required organizing his mind and placing defenses around it.

For his mental defenses, Harry had chosen his treasure to protect his mind, he hadn't been sure whether it had worked or not but he would be finding out today. Today he was going to attempt the final exercise in the book, he was going to enter his mindscape and hopefully discover the source of all his magic, as well as tidy up the few parts of his mind he may have missed with the last few exercises.

Closing his eyes and assuming a comfortable position, flat on his back with his hands resting at his sides, Harry began his meditation exercise and focused on entering his own mind. His breathing came in regular intervals, his heart beat slower and he felt himself spiraling down and down until he felt consciousness slipping away.

* * *

It may have taken a second or an hour, he wasn't sure, but Harry soon found himself opening his eyes with the fact that he was no longer in his cupboard serving as proof of his success.

His mind, as he had designed it, was simply a white void with absolute nothingness stretching out in every direction. In the center of this void floated his treasure, the small marble he had discovered over a month ago. However, instead of the small, yet heavy, ball that he usually held in his hand, this one towered above him.

At over one hundred feet high, the giant, metal sphere that housed his mind was truly a intimidating sight, especially with the way it wobbled, as if it could roll over at any moment and crush anything in its path. Grinning at his accomplishment, Harry willed himself to appear closer to his defenses and his mindscape moved to accommodate him.

As he got closer, the first stage of his defenses activated and the ball seemed to light up. Harry shuddered as a beam of white light connected him to the metal ball, he could feel the beam scanning him, ascertaining his identity. This idea he'd stolen from a few of the many Sci-fi books he'd read over the last few weeks, the ball already looked high tech so adding a full body scanner hadn't been a far reach for his imagination.

After what felt like an eternity, the light finally finished its job and the ball stopped glowing.

Satisfied with his first stage of defense, Harry floated right up to the metal ball and placed his hand on its surface, he grinned as the metal rippled at his touch and his hand sunk into the now liquid surface. Solid metal gave way to liquid quicksilver as Harry literally stepped into the orb, easily accessing the inner sanctum of his mind.

_'I'm so glad that worked.' _Harry thought as he passed through the liquid metal, completely unhindered and unaffected. '_I didn't think the book was actually right about the mindscape and mental defenses.'_

The inside of the ball seemed to be slightly similar to the outside, an endless black void replacing the white with two constructs floating within the void rather than one.

The first construct was one he had not placed here, it was an enormous ball of golden light, covered in a lattice of red and black liquid. Harry assumed that this ball of light was the source of all his power, the mental representation of his magic.

The second thing within the void was the construct Harry had chosen to represent his mind, it was a being he'd only seen once in a comic book but the image had stuck with him the entire time he had been making his mindscape and Harry had decided to incorporate it into his defenses. The being was simply know as 'The Idea of Evil', in the comic it had represented all of mankind's suffering, pain, and emotions, Harry thought it fitting to use such a being to represent his own feelings.

Floating before him was a giant heart covered in countless eyes and many valves, each eye was the same emerald-green color as his own but he could see them flashing gold as they swiveled about. Swirling around the heart was a storm of ideas, thoughts, memories and emotions, each represented by a small ball of colored light, there were dozens of different colors and Harry couldn't begin to fathom what each color represented.

As he watched, the heart would beat slowly, its eyes would swivel around searching for something among the many balls of light and the valves connected to it would either inhale or exhale a stream of colored lights, the exhaled lights joining the storm surrounding the heart. The way Harry had crafted it, the Heart represented his subconscious mind, while the many eyes represented his conscious mind.

Whenever he experienced a new feeling or emotion, or even when he had a thought, it would be exhaled from the heart and float freely within the void, the eyes would then examine it and transmit it to him. Should he want to lock away a memory, repress a feeling or emotion, or even stop a train of thought, the heart would inhale the specific thought, emotion, memory or feeling and lock it away deep within him. This all happened at the speed of thought, so fast it was barely noticeable.

Through this heart shaped being, Harry now had absolute control over his memories, his emotions and even his body. He could suppress pain, dissolve emotions and study memories, all through his heart-mind as he chose to call it. The heart-mind gave him true control over himself and Harry would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the feeling.

Sparing several minutes to examine his '_mind_', Harry followed the instructions in the book and made sure his mindscape was operating properly. It would be catastrophic if it wasn't and he lost control over his own mind, it could drive him insane or worse, render him brain dead. Luckily, everything looked fine and there wasn't any real damage to his mind.

With his examination complete, Harry turned to the real reason he had started meditating, his magic. Now that he had a chance to closely examine it, Harry was quite disgusted with what he saw and felt.

While the ball of golden light felt comforting and familiar to him, the red and black liquids encasing it did not. From the red, blood like liquid, he could sense a feeling of protection and love, yet at the same time it seemed wrong and perverse, as if something was slowly corrupting it. The black liquid however, was just plain disgusting, it seemed to ooze an aura of malevolence that Harry wanted nowhere near his magic.

He took a few minutes to examine the ball, before he tried willing the liquids away and physically removing them from his magic but nothing seemed to work. With all his ideas failing, Harry went for the final option left to him, he dived head first into the golden sphere of power and fully immersed himself in his magic.

* * *

The first thing he felt was pure unstoppable power, raw magic at its strongest completely surrounded and encased him, filling him with euphoric ecstasy. There was so much power here that Harry didn't know what to do with it, he felt invincible, powerful, with this power he could do anything he set his mind to... and then it was gone.

As quickly as it had come, the feeling of power receded and Harry felt tired and drained, he felt completely powerless and his body shuddered as the feelings of euphoria receded. Enraged at the loss, he tracked it to its source and was unsurprised when he was led to the red and black liquids.

_'What are they anyways? Why would they be here, inside my mind and around my magic?' _He wondered, examining them closely.

Touching upon the red liquid, Harry followed it to its source and was rewarded with an image of number four Privet Drive, his home. However, there seemed to be some sort of crimson dome surrounding the entire house, that was new. From what Harry could feel of the dome, it was meant to protect him and keep him safe from outside threats. Not just him though, the dome seemed to be connected to his relatives as well, protecting them and keeping them safe.

The problem with this however, was that the dome was draining huge amounts of his magic to do so. Someone was draining his power and using it to protect the Dursleys.

_'What the hell? Who would do that?'_ Harry raged mentally. _'There's no way I would lift a finger, let alone give up my power, to protect those people.'_

He wanted nothing more than to tear down the dome and leave the Dursleys at the mercy of whatever they were being protected from, in fact, that was just what he was going to do. However, as he drew on his remaining power to attack the red liquid, his magic seemed to pulse urgently and drew his attention to something else, the black liquid.

Unlike the red liquid, the black liquid offered no sense of protection, it simply radiated a malicious aura as it continually attacked his magic in an attempt to crush it. The only thing holding it back was the combined effort of his magic and the protection from the red liquid, if he got rid of the red liquid, Harry had no doubts that the black liquid would crush his magic and spread out to his mind.

He would have to deal with it first.

Tracking the black liquid to its source, he was shocked to see that it actually came from the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, the scar he'd gained the night his parents died.

_'What the hell? My scar? Then its not a normal scar, its trying to drain my power away.'_ Harry realized, examining the scar closely_ 'If someone knew this and set the dome up to protect me, why didn't they deal with the scar as well?'_

Clearing his thoughts, Harry focused on the real issue at hand, destroying or dispelling the dark presence in his scar. Gathering the remnants of his power, Harry threw it all at the black liquid in an attempt to remove it. For a single instant he felt it buckle, pressed back by his ferocious assault, then he was filled with complete and utter pain as balls of sickly yellow energy sprung to life around his mindscape.

The pain was all encompassing, threatening to drown out all his thoughts and destroy him. It was only through his mental exercises that Harry was able to focus on the balls of pain, willing them to vanish. A moment later, the valves of his heart-mind began sucking them all in, numbing the pain and allowing him to think clearly.

With the pain gone, or suppressed at best, Harry focused his full might against the black liquid. His power surged forward, empowered by his pain and rage, and struck the black ooze once more. He felt it fighting back, trying to fill him with more pain and crush him, but against the combined forces of Harry's enraged magic and the red liquid, it stood no chance.

"!"

Harry grinned in triumph as a high pitched, pain-filled, inhuman screech echoed throughout his mind as the entirety of the black liquid was obliterated.

_'God that was draining, but strangely satisfying.'_ he huffed, trying to catch his breath. He didn't really need to breath in here but this was the only way his mind knew to represent the strain he'd just suffered.

As the last of the black liquid vanished, Harry felt the feeling of pure, invincible power return. If he'd felt great before, there was no word to describe how he felt now. With the black liquid gone, his power seemed to grow immensely, the parts of it that had been drained by or were spent fighting the scar, had returned to his control.

There was so much power at his fingertips, he could do anything, be anything and all it required was this power. In that instant, Harry knew he was addicted, there was no way he would ever give up this power and the euphoric feelings it produced, he would do everything he could to gain more of it.

Anything at all...

His heart-mind seemed to pulse and Harry gasped as he regained control over himself, he'd lost himself to the power for a moment there.

_'I should have expected this,'_ He cursed angrily, pushing the power away. _'It was in almost all the books I read, if I don't control this power, it will try and control me.'_

With a deep breath and a silent thanks to his heart-mind for saving him, again, Harry turned his attention to the red liquid. He now had a semblance of control over himself, as long as he focused, he would remain in control.

The red liquid however, had undergone a small change during his distraction, it was no longer draining huge amounts of his magic. In fact, the power being drained was almost insignificant, compared to his large ball of power at least.

_'Is it because the black stuff is gone?_' Harry pondered. _'Was it draining more and more power to help fight it off?'_

It would appear so, because now that there was nothing to fight, the power seemed to fall almost dormant, simply draining a portion of his power to protect him and the Dursleys.

_'Hmmm, maybe I can use this. There's no way I want to waste power protecting the Dursleys though.' _Harry thought with a frown. _'Maybe if I...'_

With a thought, he was back at the dome, examining it carefully. He could see the way the power was flowing, it poured out from him, into the dome and then into the Dursleys.

With a thought and great force of will, Harry tore the links connected to the Dursleys and attached them to his own body. Now the dome was draining power from him to keep itself active, but at the same time it was returning portions of that power and protecting him. While that was good, great even, the protection only seemed to work while he was within the dome and the threat was outside the dome. Harry frowned at this, even with the protection gone, his relatives would still be able to hurt him as long as they were inside the house.

_'Unless...' _A grin crossed his face as he was struck with a sudden idea.

Focusing on the dome once more, Harry tore out the stream of power that seemed to tie it to the house and attached it to his own body. He grinned in satisfaction as the dome vanished a moment later, only to reappear as a thin layer surrounding his body. Now he would be protected from all threats as long as he had enough magic to power the dome, or shield since it was no longer dome shaped.

With a triumphant grin, Harry drew away from the red liquid and turned his attention to his final problem, his power.

While it was within his body and a part of him, he knew there was no way he would be able to consciously control it at all times without losing himself in the ecstasy that the magic induced. It took far too much effort for him to constantly focus and keep control over his power, if he lost focus for one single instant then the power would overwhelm him and control him once more.

_'If only I had something to tie it to, something I could use to control it without having to constantly focus on i...'_

A grin lit up his face as he realized what he was thinking, he needed a magical focus.

Many of the books he'd read talked about wands, staffs and other magical foci, which were used to enhance and focus the caster's abilities. That was what he needed, a wand or staff of some kind, but where could he get something like that? There was no way a normal stick would work, wands and staves required either magical cores or a series of runes, seals or whatever they were called to make them a proper focus. If that was what the other magical people used then maybe he could too, but he didn't know where to find them or where to get a focus like that.

_'Maybe I can use something else.'_ Harry mused, trying to think of something. _'Some of the books talked about using rings, necklaces or even earrings as a focus and most of those seemed to be normal until the magic was added.'_

But where was he supposed to get some jewelry without getting beat around or arrested? As he thought, Harry felt his heart-mind pulse once more and a sudden idea sprung to mind, there was something he could use, something he always carried on him.

Grinning widely, Harry drew his power once more and spread it out from his body, which he noticed was bleeding black ooze from the scarred forehead, and searched for the item in question.

He found it tucked under his pillow, as usual, and drew his magic to it.

His power touched the metal ball and Harry gasped in shock as his power surged to new heights. Somehow, the orb was amplifying his power, causing it to grow stronger and denser as it was filtered through it.

_'What is this ball made of?'_ Harry wondered, thinking of all the mythical metals that were mentioned in his fantasy books. _'I need to look into it sometime.'_

For now he needed to focus on the issue at hand.

Just like with the dome and his body, Harry attached a thick stream of power to the ball and allowed his own power to be drained into it. Just like with the first touch, his power was amplified and strengthened as it flowed through the ball. With his power being drained into the ball endlessly, Harry drew a thinner stream of power from the orb and attached it to his heart-mind, surrounding the large heart with golden veins of power.

Now he'd be able to control the power with his mind, with the ball acting as a buffer, allowing him to use his full power without being overwhelmed. Even though the power was amplified, the magic flowing through him and filling him with wondrous warmth and pleasure, it was still toned down to a level he could handle with his focusing techniques.

With all his work completed, Harry exited his ball of power and floated over to his heart-mind. He spent a few minutes examining it and making sure the veins of power were having no negative effects on his mind before locking down his barriers and exiting his mindscape.

* * *

**-Harry's P.O.V-**

As I returned to my body, happy and triumphant, my good mood was drained as I felt the phantom pains wracking my body. While much of it was suppressed by my heart-mind, and the warm comfort of the magic flowing through me, I could still feel tingles of pain from my scar as it dripped black ooze.

_'Ugh, I need to clean this up.'_ I thought with a grimace, ready to sacrifice my thin blanket to this chore.

The second the thought left my mind, my power spiked within the metal orb, filling my body with more delightful warmth, and a moment later the cupboard was clean; and when I say clean, I mean completely spotless. Every smudge of dirt, every mote of dust, every drop of blood and black ooze was completely wiped away, the cupboard was cleaner than I've ever seen it.

"Whoa.." I whisper with wide eyes, my surprise turning into excitement. "That was awesome."

Digging under my pillow, I fished out the metal ball and smirked at it, I noticed that it now had golden-yellow cracks running across it's surface but it didn't appear to be damaged in any way.

Hmm, I need a way to carry it around, I could probably keep it in my pocket but I didn't want to risk losing it or having it stolen. I couldn't carry it around or wear it as a ring either since it's pretty heavy, maybe I can shrink it or make it weightless, or maybe...

_'Maybe I can wear it as a necklace.'_ I muse, it may be heavy for its small size but not so much that I cant wear it from my neck. _'I need a chain for that though.'_

Again I felt a spike of power and the ball in my hand now had a thin, silver chain connected to it, turning it into a fanciful necklace. I slipped it around my neck with a grin and tucked it under my shirt, I feel quite comforted having the weight of the heavy ball against my chest.

My grin turned into a frown however, as I recall the last few minutes, this is going to be a problem. I can't have my power reacting to my every thought, that's just asking for trouble.

Closing my eyes once more, I focused inward and fell into my mind, it seemed to be far easier this time.

A few minutes later, I open my eyes again, the problem solved.

Rather that tying my power around my entire heart-mind, I attached it to a single, distant portion of my mind, one that I could reach for whenever I need to use my magic.

"Hopefully it works." I mutter focusing on my closet door, the Dursleys were asleep so I should be able to get away with this.

_'Open.'_ I thought, focusing on the door.

Nothing happened.

_'I wish the door would open.'_ I try again, pouring my intent into the thought.

Nothing again.

_'I need the door opened.'_ I try for the third time, throwing all my emotion and will behind the thought.

Still nothing, so far so good.

_'Open door.'_ I focus, connecting to the portion of my mind linked to my magic. A gleeful grin spreads across my face as the door latch clicked and the door swung wide open.

A moment later my grin disappears as I hear both the front and back doors swing open as well.

"Dang." I mutter, hoping no one heard the noise. _'Close the doors silently.' _

The open doors slammed and locked themselves, all without a making a sound.

At least I learned something important, I'll need to be fairly specific with my commands or my magic is likely to affect everything in the general area. That would explain why it cleaned my entire cupboard rather than just the black ooze, which I had been focused on at the time. Now that I've got that straightened out, and knew that I could open the door whenever I want, I decided to try teleporting again. After all, that why I got started on this whole thing in the beginning.

I need to be careful how I go about it however. The first time I did it, I'd made a loud cracking sound, much like a gunshot, before being sucked through a tube and spat out on the roof. I really don't want to go through that again, It's far too loud and felt far too unpleasant, that's why I decided to try something new.

Concentrating on the effect I want, I closed my eyes and drew on my power, willing it to work as I envisioned. Without a sound or any sign of building power, my body flickered in and out of existence like a dying light bulb and I found myself sitting on the kitchen floor.

One moment I'm in my cupboard, sitting on my bed with my eyes closed, the next I'm on the kitchen floor.

I almost squeal in glee at my success, everything worked exactly like I imagined, there was no sound and I didn't even feel a thing as I was moved from one room to the next. The only drawback with this skill is that I need an image, or at least a general idea, of where I want to appear. Without one, I could probably end up underground, high in the air or inside a solid object, none of which sound especially pleasant.

It's not without its bonuses however, such as the lack of sound and feeling but compared to the other method, this can actually be considered true teleportation. When I first teleported, there as a few seconds between my leaving the ground and my appearing on the school rooftop. The way I designed this new method, I would actually vanish from one spot before arriving at my destination with no time elapsed, there's even a point where I exist at both locations at the same time. This is real teleportation rather than the faster-than-light movement of the previous technique.

Which makes my version the best.

Yay.

Once I finish jumping for joy at my awesomeness, I rush over to the fridge and begin making myself a few sandwiches. While I'm excited about all this, I'm also starving, the Dursleys have been practically starving me, more so than usual, this last week and I can barely focus past the hunger now that I'm free.

* * *

After I finish eating my fill, I put the food away and prepare to teleport back to my closet. That thought was driven from my mind as a new desire appeared in its place, the desire to leave this place entirely.

_'Why should I go back in there? Why should I stay here with these people at all?' _I ask, glaring at the door leading to the rest of the house._ 'I don't have to continue living like this, I have this power now, I can just leave.'_

I wanted to leave, to run away from this place and never come back. There's nothing holding me here, nothing stopping me from leaving. I have all of this power now, my wonderful magic, and I can do anything I want with it.

_'Or can I?'_ I thought with a sudden frown.

What is the full extent of my power?

What are my limits?

So far, all I've done is clean a mess, open a door and teleport a few feet. Can I really survive on my own like that? What if I need to defend myself from wild animals or bad people, or even the other magical people? What if they're stronger than me and I get myself killed? I won't even be able to use my powers all the time, since hardly anyone knows about these other magical people, it's probably a well defended secret. What will happen if I'm seen by someone and the secret gets out?

With a sigh, I flicker back to my cupboard, I'll have to wait until I'm sure it's safe for me. I can't go running around like an idiot and get myself killed, which is what will probably happen if I'm not careful. I also need to know the full capabilities of my powers, what I can and can't do with it.

"The Dursleys know some of it." I realize with a renewed grin. They know I have some kind of power, but that also means that they know something about the others out there, I can just get some answer's from them and learn the rest on my own.

_'But they're not just going to tell me.'_ I thought with a frown, Petunia I can probably scare into telling me but Vernon would be harder, he would probably get angry before getting scared. _'At least my dome-shield thing will protect me from him, but I need someway to scare them.'_

One of the few things I'd learned from the Dursleys was that the powerful ruled over the weak, Vernon and Petunia had been more powerful than me so they had ruled over me. If I want to get my point across, and some revenge, I'll need to show them that I'm stronger than they are.

_'Let's see how they like being the ones on the receiving end, let's see how they like bleeding and having their bones broken.'_ My grin turns feral as I dive back into my mind, I have to prepare for tomorrow. I need to work on drawing on my magic at a faster speed, if I'm too slow or take too long then things could go bad for me.

'_Either way, I'm looking forward to tomorrow._'

* * *

**A.N: Hope you guys are glad to see this back up, I'll be rewriting and posting the other chapters in the future so look forward to it.**


	2. Magic

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text" - Speech.

'Text' - Thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Magic**

-Harry's P.O.V-

When morning came I woke to a thumping on my cupboard door, a frown crossing my face as my eyes snapped open, looks like I slept in. The last thing I remember is working on my magic for most of the night, before I got too tired to continue on. Luckily, I managed to increase my 'drawing' speed a lot last night, now I don't need to concentrate as much to draw on my power; the ball hanging around my neck helped out with that.

The pounding on my door draws my attention once more and I groan, just managing to roll out of bed as the door is flung wide open.

"You lazy little brat!" Petunia screeches, glaring down at me. "Do you know what time it is? Get out of bed right this moment and start cooking breakfast."

I glare back at her fiercely before exiting the closet, she tries to hide it but I can see her body shudder at my glare. Normally, I'd never notice but with my mind clear and my thoughts focused I noticed something about Petunia, she's terrified of me. She knows I have this power, she may not know that I can use it but she knows it's there, and it terrifies her.

Her fear turns into anger as she reaches out and smacks the back of my head, hard. I barely even feel it as a wall of red light, too faint and minuscule to be noticed, appears millimeters above my skin and intercepts the blow, it will take far more force then that to piece the shield protecting me. Petunia on the other hand, winces and clutches her hand in pain, her eyes are wide with shock but the anger soon returns and she storms off towards the kitchen.

"Get in here and start cooking freak!" She shouts from the kitchen, I cant help but smirk at the slight quiver in her tone as I follow after her.

Today is going to be fun.

* * *

As Vernon and Petunia finish breakfast and little Dudders is sent off to bathe, I decide to make my move.

I silently slide into a seat across from Vernon and glare at him, it only takes him a few seconds to notice and he returns my glare with one of his own.

"What the hell are you looking at boy?" He growls,setting down his fork and knife.

I ignore him and turn my glare on Petunia, who is watching the proceedings with a hint of fear and dread.

"We need to talk, dearest Aunt and Uncle." I begin, using a sickly-sweet tone. "We can start with you telling me everything you know about magic."

Petunias eyes widen and she stiffens while Vernon's do the opposite and narrow into slits, his face is already turning red with anger.

"You little shit!" He shouts, angrily standing from his seat. "How dare you use that word in this house, didn't learn from last time eh?"

"V-vernon!" Petunia squawks, drawing his attention. "H-he knows."

Vernon's eyes turn back to me and I give him my most malicious grin, which isn't that bad for a nine year old, it seems to spook him at the least.

"That's right, I know." I hiss, renewing my glare. "But it's what you know that's important right now, so I'll ask again, what do you know about magic?"

Vernon's face has turned a frightening shade of purple now and he begins making his way towards me.

"I don't give a shit what you know boy!" He growls angrily. "I'll have none of that freakish nonsense in my house!"

As he approaches, I snort and catch Petunia's eye once more, she must have noticed something in my eyes because she gains a look of horror and turns to Vernon, her mouth already open to speak.

I don't give her the chance.

I turn my attention back to Vernon, or the hand reaching towards me to be specific and my magic rises to my command before I even call on it, reacting to my subconscious thoughts. I can feel it flow through me and into the small metal ball on my necklace before it's directed by my intent. I want to stop Vernon's arm, maybe even push it back a little bit and that's what I direct my magic to do.

Too bad I forgot about the amplifying effect of my chosen focus however.

I do manage to hide my shock as Vernon's arm is violently shoved away, the force of the push dislocating the arm at the shoulder and causing him to stumble back. I really need to dial down how much magic I feed the ball at one time, while my magic may know the amount of power needed to cause the effects I want, it has no way of calculating for the amplification effect of my chosen focus.

Petunia's gasp draws my attention to the real world, and Vernon's pain-filled screams serve to keep me there. While his arm is dangling lifelessly at his side and his scream is filled with pain, Vernon's eyes burn with rage. However, I can see an inkling of fear beginning to creep in, he's starting to see me as an actual threat now.

"You should care uncle, because I know about my magic and I know how to use it." I sneer, glancing over his form. I find it hard to believe that I'd once been terrified of this fat tub of lard. "It's about time I got a little revenge don't you think? You know, to return the favor and all that."

Before he can comprehend my words, I glance at several spots on his form-

_'Cut him.'_

-and they all explode with blood as dozens of cuts appear on his form. I took care to use only the barest amount of my power this time so the cuts aren't too deep, they wont cause any permanent harm but there's enough of them to hurt and make him bleed.

"**!**" Vernon screams in pain, his eyes wide with shock as blood drips down his frame.

Ah, that felt good, nothing like a little revenge to brighten up the day.

A part of me feels that this is wrong, that I shouldn't be attacking him like this. That part is quickly crushed and sucked into the deepest, darkest parts of my heart-mind.

_'Power is everything, the powerful rule over the weak and I refuse to be weak.'_ I focus on this thought and use it to calm myself.

My actions are justified, this is simply how the world works. The Dursleys, who treated me like their slave at all times, have taught me well. The bullies, who picked on me simply because I was there, have taught me well. The teachers, who ignored the obvious signs of abuse, have taught me well. I will not be weak, I have power now and I refuse to be weak again.

_'Never again.'_

I manage to cut Vernon two more times and break the bones in his both left leg and right arm before Petunia snaps out of her shock and reacts.

"Wait, stop it!" She squeaks tearfully. "I'll tell you what you want to know, just leave him alone."

I sneer at Vernon's broken and bleeding form before turning to her with a smirk.

"I know you will Petunia," I reply, forgoing all manner of politeness. "You don't have a choice in the matter, maybe if you give a satisfactory answer I'll leave Vernon here alone."

She seemed startled at my higher than normal vocabulary skills, not surprising as her idiot of a son could barely put together coherent sentences and she considered him to be a 'little genius'. Still, that doesn't stop her from spilling the beans and telling me everything I want to know.

* * *

It takes well over fifteen minutes for her to tell me everything she can remember about the magical world, not a lot of time but as it turns out, she didn't know much.

Still, she spoke all about her sister -my mother- receiving her Hogwarts letter, her families first trip to Diagon Alley, as well as the location of said alley. This was followed with a few bits of random information my mum had told her many years ago, culminating with the events that led up to my being left on their doorstep.

"So, let me get this straight." I mutter, a brow raised incredulously. "I killed off some bad guy, one who murdered my parents and a bunch of others, and essentially saved everyone? And these people just left me on the doorstep?"

She nods.

"Go fetch the note." I growl.

I'm quite angry over this situation, this all seems like the plot to one of the stupider fantasy stories I'd skimmed through while doing research. Nevertheless, I'm quite upset with whoever left me on the doorstep with some, what did Petunia say they were? Muggles? Yeah, with some muggles. If my parents had both been magical then shouldn't I have been left with a magical family?

Petunia scampers off to do as shes told and I turn my attention back to Vernon, he's lost a lot of blood and seems to have passed out. I sigh in annoyance and cut him once more for good measure, now I'm just being spiteful. Luckily for him, I need him alive, I would probably get in some serious trouble if I leave him to him die.

With my need for revenge sated, I turn my magic and focus to healing Vernon's wounds, watching in fascination as the many cuts seal themselves shut one after the other. As the last of Vernon's wounds close with a sizzle and his bones mend with a painful sounding crack, Petunia enters the kitchen holding a thick piece of parchment.

She takes a fearful look at Vernon's form but calms down after she sees that his wounds are gone. Ignoring her obvious signs of distress, I snatch the parchment from her hand and read it over, I can feel my anger rising at every word but I just take a very deep breath and shove it all into my heart-mind.

"Alright, tell me everything you know about Albus Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort and magic wands." I mutter, focusing on the main issues that I cared about.

Petunia starts talking once more and I almost groan in annoyance from what I learn.

From what I learn about this Albus Dumbledore, I decide that I don't like him, not one bit. Dumbledore is the one who left me on the Dursleys' doorstep all those years ago with only a quickly scrawled note and a thin blanket for protection, it's because of this guy that I'm stuck living here. Speaking of which, since when do school headmasters have that kind of control over newly orphaned infants? This guy has never even bothered to drop in to check on me or tell me about my magic, I'm really starting to hate this guy.

There's also the fact he set up the '_wards_' on this place. From what Petunia says, he's supposed to be the '_strongest of the freaks_' yet he couldn't even do something about my scar or the black goo connected to it? At least I now have a name for the dome-shield thing, Blood Wards, I really hope they're not evil or dangerous as the name implies.

Regardless, whoever this Albus Dumbledore is, he and I will be having words should we ever meet.

Another issue in Petunia's tale is Lord Voldemort, the man who murdered my parents. From what she has to say, the guy seems like the stereotypical villain in every story, he even has the cliche sounding villain name.

Petunia doesn't know much about him, only what she'd read from the warnings my mum sent her, but she knew enough to explain a few things. Voldemort was basically the classic, fantasy villain, a stereotype in almost all the ways that counted. He had his little army of followers and minions who followed him around, obeying his orders as they murdered innocent people and caused all sorts of mayhem. Apparently, the guy was so bad and terrifying that people never spoke his name in public.

Yeah, a real bad ass. Until he went off and got beaten by an infant.

I still have trouble buying that story, I find it hard to believe that I could hurt anyone at that age, magic or no magic. My parents probably did something to kill him and I got the credit simply because I was still alive, man these people must be idiots. The more I hear about the other magical people, the more disappointed I am.

My hopes are still pinned on the fact that Petunia might just be embellishing because she hates them and not because they really are as pathetic as she says, her next few words serve to dash those hopes, apparently these people can't do any magic without their wands. According to her, the stuff I've been doing is supposed to be impossible, not hard or difficult but completely impossible. According to my mum, witches and wizards **need** their wands to do magic, without them they were completely helpless.

I guess their wands act as a focus for them just like my ball does for me, except that even if I lose the ball, I'll still be able to do magic. So, the wands are more like a crutch than a simple focus.

That's a bit of a let down but at the same time, it's a great relief. Now, I can leave this place without any worries, if I run into trouble with a magical person, all I would have to do is take away their wand. That should be easy enough since I can literally do it with a single thought, or so I hope.

A groan from Vernon draws me from my thoughts and I turn to address both him and Petunia.

"Alright, here's how things are going to go." I say with a frown. "My birthday is a month away, I'm going to stay here until then, afterwards I'm leaving and you won't have to see me again."

Petunia smiles slightly, excited at the thought.

Vernon groans again but I know he heard me.

"Until that time, you are to pretend like I don't exist. You will not talk to me or bother me in any way, you will leave me alone and I'll do the same to you." He ground out, fixing them with a focused glare. "If you don't, I'll just have to make the next few months unpleasant for you."

My threat seems to stick and she nods, I turn to leave but stop at the door and glare at her once again.

"I would also suggest that you keep Dudley away from me as well, you and your husband didn't seem to mind leaving me broken and bleeding." I mutter, just enough for her to hear. "If I'm old enough to be treated like that, I don't see why Dudley should be an exception. If he continues to bother me, I will break him."

With that, I turn and leave the kitchen, returning to my cupboard to think.

* * *

According to Petunia, I'm supposed to receive a letter to attend Dumbledore's school before I turn eleven, I don't plan on accepting. Instead, I think I'll just head to Diagon Alley and find out what I can about the magical world and their schools, if they can actually teach me something then I might consider attending a different school.

It takes me several minutes to remember a location near the Leaky Cauldron that I've been to before, luckily Petunia liked to drag me to a grocery store roughly a block or two from the place. Closing my eyes, I focus on the bathroom of the store and, with a surge of power, I'm there. Exiting the stall I appeared in, I make my way into the store proper and take a look around. The store seems to be mostly empty but it is just nine am after all, its only been open for about an hour or so.

I make my way to the exit and head towards the Leaky Cauldron, I can easily see the building in the distance and I'm surprised that I've never noticed it before, it only takes me a few minutes to reach it and I can tell it's the correct place as I feel my own magic reacting to the magic surrounding the building. The power here feels similar to my blood wards, just weaker and far more subtle, I wonder what it does.

My best guess is that it serves to keep the muggles away since no one else seems to notice the decrepit building, but I'm sure it has other functions as well.

_'That could be very useful, I should look into what other kinds of wards these people can make.'_ I muse, glancing around.

I want to enter the building as soon as possible and learn about this whole new world but I can't go in as I am, if I'm as famous as Petunia said then people will definitely notice me walking around.

Standing still for a few seconds, I draw on my power and bend it to my will, smiling as I feel it complying. A moment later, I look into the glass window of a nearby store and the appearance of a different boy stares back. In an instant, my hair has grown down to my shoulders and is now light brown in color, it's also combed back neatly rather than the rats mess that it was before. My eyes have changed from a piercing emerald-green to a plain brown and the scar on my forehead, which had been slowly fading away since I woke, is now completely gone.

I frown as I take in my clothes and taped up glasses, but another thought handles them. My clothes, Dudley's hand me downs, shrink to a more manageable size, fitting me perfectly for once. The tape on my glasses vanishes as the many cracks and breaks on the frame seal together, leaving me with a pair of glasses that appear to be brand new.

_'Hm, I should see about making a spell to fix my eyes,'_ I note, checking my new appearance. _'I don't want to wear glasses forever.'_

Satisfied with my new appearance and assured that no one will recognize me, I enter the small pub.

* * *

My first impression of the building is disgust, my second is the same. Years of living with, and cleaning for, the Dursleys have made me a bit of a clean freak, I don't mind a small mess but I would prefer clean places. The pub is a complete dump, the floors look like they haven't been swept in years, the tables are covered in filth that has never been wiped, I can even see the bartender cleaning a dirty mug with an even dirtier rag.

Gross.

This place isn't even well lit, there are a few candles here and there but a majority of the building is cloaked in shadow, this must be what they mean when they refer to a 'shady pub'. Don't these people have magic for this sort of thing? I cleaned my cupboard on a fluke, shouldn't they have a spell for it? And the lighting as well, surely they have spells to better illuminate the place.

Needless to say, my first impression of the magical world is one of disgusted disappointment.

Ignoring the few patrons in the shadowed areas of the pub, I make my way to the back door, where the entrance to Diagon Alley is supposed to be located. While Petunia had forgotten the sequence of bricks required to open the gateway to the alley, I don't think it will be too much of a problem.

Drawing on my power, I latch my magic onto the back wall and ask it to open up. Much to my satisfaction and joy, the bricks begin to shift and move, forming a circular hole in the brick wall that leads into Diagon Alley. The alley itself brought up feelings within me, feelings I'd experienced in the pub just minutes ago, disgust and disappointment.

The entire alley looks like it was pulled out from the dark ages, it's like these people stopped evolving two hundred years ago.

This is the wonderful wizarding world? Where are all the advancements I expected?

I find myself sorely disappointed, on the verge of tears, as my expectations come crashing down. The pub I could have accepted as a fluke, one to throw off any muggles that may stumble in, this however is far too much. I'd expected, hoped even, that the magical world would be miles ahead of the muggle world, that it would be superior in every way.

After all, they have magic, they have power, they **are** superior.

I'm severely let down.

Throwing my turbulent emotions deep into my heart-mind, and allowing my magic to spread some calming warmth through me, I focus on my goals for today and enter the alley. My first stop looms in the distance, looking like a palace amidst a sea of filth, the wizarding bank, Gringotts.

The place looks more majestic than the rest of the alley it's situated in, with its pristine white walls and columns of marble stone, Gringotts resembles the temples of ancient Greece. While it's also out of its era, the building has a beauty of its own, one that almost makes up for the rest of the alley.

I make my way towards the bank, passing a few early risers, all dressed in the stereotypical ropes and hat of a witch or wizard. Just perfect, they even dress like they're from a fantasy story, how have these people remained a secret society for so long? I don't know but I bet a great use of magic is involved.

Shaking my head in annoyance, I focus on the bank once more.

Petunia had mentioned the bank in passing, she'd only been to Gringotts once and that was to exchange money for her sisters supplies. I was hoping my parents had left me some money here, since I don't have any money of my own to exchange. If it turns out that I'm wrong and I have no money to my name, well... I'm sure I can think of something, I can be quite resourceful when I set my mind to it.

* * *

Entering the bank, I made sure to only spare a quick glance at the Goblins standing guard. I'm quite interested in them of course, having never seen one before but all the Goblins in the stories I've read tend to be bad tempered and mean spirited. I don't feel like drawing attention to myself by accidentally causing an issue with the guards, who knows what they can do to me and get a way with.

I'm assuming a lot, since they happen to control this societies money.

The inside of the bank is just as clean and beautiful as the outside, with white marble covering the floors and walls as well as a few statues dotted here and there. It's also full of people standing in lines, all here to get their banking done early. Luckily, there are quite a lot of tellers so the lines are pretty short, something you would not see in a muggle bank.

Taking a quick look around, pausing once or twice to allow some bustling goblins to pass by, I join one of the shortest lines and wait my turn. It takes roughly ten minutes for my turn to come around and I walk right up to the tellers desk. The Goblin sneers down at me over his stand and raises a single brow in question.

Well, that's not a good first impression.

"Hello sir," I greet in as polite a tone as I can manage. "I would like to speak to an account manager please."

While waiting for my turn, I'd noticed that the four people that had gone before me had all been quite rude to the teller, a stupid idea if you ask me considering that these Goblins **handle** your money. I prefer to stay on their good side just in case.

The Goblin blinks and his sneer seems to grow softer, common courtesy and politeness can get you anywhere, I'll have to remember that.

"Where are your parents boy? We don't have time to waste on children." He asked in a gruff tone.

While the comment is a bit harsh, he doesn't seem to put much venom into it, I guess even Goblins need to keep up appearances.

"My parents are dead." I reply, adding a tinge of sadness. "I wanted to find out if they'd left me anything."

The Goblin blinks again and stares back for several seconds before nodding and turning to another Goblin behind him. He grunts out a series of harsh sounds in a language I don't quite understand and the other Goblin nods back. A few seconds later, the teller turns back to me and jabs a finger at the Goblin he had been speaking to.

"Fishclaw will take you to see a manager." He grunts with a nod, before his sneer grows hard and he turns his attention to the next client.

"Thank you." I say regardless before following behind the other Goblin, Fishclaw.

We pass through a series of winding corridors, eventually stopping at a small office where I was then introduced to Manager Ranglow, I bow politely since Goblins don't seem to be the hand shaking type and take an offered seat.

"How may I help you today?" Ranglow asks, his fingers interlaced on his desk.

"My name is Piers Polkiss and I just have a few questions," I begin, using a fake name.

I still don't want people knowing I've returned to the magical until I know who my allies and enemies are, you don't just kill off a major villain without gaining some enemies.

"What are your questions Mr. Polkiss?" Ranglow inquires.

"Will this meeting be kept between the two of us?" I ask curiously, wondering what the banks policies are on privacy.

If he's surprised by my question, he doesn't show it. Ranglow simply blinks before replying.

"The Goblin nation offers full discretion in all transactions." He begins with a slight frown. "In fact, all employees of Gringotts are forced to swear magical oaths to never disclose any of our client's information to anybody outside of the bank without the client's express permission."

I grin and allow my appearance to return to normal, much to the Goblins shock.

"That's good to know Mr. Ranglow, my real name is Harry Potter and I wanted to inquire about my parents accounts and whether they left me anything."

The Goblin simply stares back in shock for a full minute before his look turns inquisitive.

"This is quite fascinating Mr. Potter," he murmurs, brow furrowing in thought. "All offices are warded against all known forms of concealment, even a metamorphmagus would have been reverted to their natural form, how were you able to maintain your disguise?"

I blink in surprise, I really need to look into what sorts of things wards can do and find a way to tell them apart, I can feel the magic in the air here but I can't tell what it's meant to do.

"Oh, I just wanted to remain concealed and my magic did the rest." I reply with a shrug, he can't really tell anyone outside the bank about it so I don't care whether he knows that tidbit of information.

He stares back with a blank look.

"That is some powerful magic Mr. Potter, we will have to add your magical signature to the wards so we can monitor your comings and goings, for security purposes of course."

"Of course." I shrug again, I don't really plan to visit this place much, I just want to get as much money as I can before leaving. "Can we get back to my question now?"

He nods and walks over to a nearby cabinet, a few seconds later he come back with a thin book which he slides over to me. The book is dark red in color with golden bindings on the spine, on the cover is a red and gold checkered coat of arms with a stylized letter P in the center. The book is also locked with a golden clasp.

"The Potters are an old family, one of the oldest in fact, dating all the way back to the Gryffindor and Peverell lines, this means they have a high security account." Ranglow begins to explain. "All high security accounts are handled by a member of the Goblin High Council and all copies of the main account ledger are filled automatically. Regardless of its authenticity or not, I'll require a drop of your blood on the lock in order open this ledger."

I nod back and prick my finger on the lock, there's a loud click and the lock opens. I make a note to look into this as well, this is the second thing I've come across that involves blood, my wards being the first. I need check where this society stands on blood magic, not that I really care how they view the practice, its just that blood magic is usually illegal or forbidden in most of the books I've read but it does seem to have its uses; such as a lock only you can open.

Ranglow nods and begins reading the ledger.

In the meantime, I channel my magic to the cut on my finger and smile as it closes with a steamy hiss. Ranglow looks up at the sound but only a raises a brow in curiosity before turning back to the book, it takes him a few minutes to skim through the book before he begins speaking.

"There are a total of two vaults belonging to the Potter line, the Potter family vault which was merged with the Gryffindor and Peverell vaults centuries ago," He explains, turning the book towards me and pointing out a series of words and numbers to me. "And the Potter trust vault, which was created by your parents just over a decade ago."

"The Potter trust vault contains roughly ten thousand Galleons, thirty-five hundred of which is reserved to pay all seven years of your school tuition, the rest is yours to spend as you please and should be enough to last until you graduate."

"What's the conversion rate on Galleons to pounds?" I ask curiously, those are some big numbers he's using.

"Five pounds to the Galleon."

My eyes widen slightly as I do the math. That's fifty thousand pounds in the vault, seventeen thousand five hundred for school with thirty-two thousand and five hundred left over. That's quite a bit of money for someone who's never had any before.

"Continuing on." Ranglow says, pointing to another set of numbers. "The Potters were once one of the wealthiest families in magical Britain, but they were also well known for financing many war efforts. Much of the fortune was used up in the last two wars against Grindelwald and He-who-must-not-be-named."

I nod at that, frowning in displeasure, why would a single family finance a war effort? Isn't that the government's responsibility?

"The Potter family vault contains roughly five hundred thousand galleons and several heirlooms and artifacts." He continued, oblivious to my thoughts. "Due to your being a minor, access to the family vault is denied until you turn of age or receive consent from your current guardians."

I stare back at him with a blank face, two and a half million pounds, after financing two wars? How rich are the other old families for mine to be called poor in comparison with that kind of money?

_'Not now, think about this later.'_

"My guardians?" I ask, already planning on having Petunia sign a note of consent.

"Yes, the form must be signed by either your magical guardian, one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore or by your muggle guardian, a Petunia Rosalyn Dursley née Evans." Ranglow replied.

I nod back, it should be easy enough to get Petunia to sign.

What bothers me is that Dumbledore is involved once again, why am I not surprised, at least this gives him some leeway on where he placed me. Don't get me wrong, I still dislike the man, this just means that he had legal right to place me with the Dursleys. It doesn't change the fact that he left me on their door step, during one of the coldest months of the year, where anything could have happened to me.

"Property wise, there is not much to note." Ranglow continues, flipping to another page in the book. "Potter Manor in Devon was destroyed over two centuries ago during the war with the Dark Lady Mayreth, it was never rebuilt. Potter cottage, your parents' home, has been made into a national memorial after You-Know-Who was defeated there."

That was fine as well, I can easily buy a new home after I gain access to my family vault, I don't see the need to live in a large manor and living in the very building where my parents and Voldemort died is just asking for trouble.

"Lastly, there are also a series of investments owned by the Potters but they are all doing quite well, I estimate that they earn you roughly twenty thousand Galleons a year, the average salary of a high ranking ministry employee." Ranglow continued, flipping through the last few pages and closing the book. "Was there anything else you needed Mr. Potter?"

"No, that should be everything." I reply with a smile, as long as I'm careful with it that money will last me a long time. "Is there any chance I can withdraw some money from my vault?"

"I'll have Fishclaw take you down." Ranglow nods, standing from his seat.

"Thank you." I reply, reapplying my disguise.

* * *

I exit the bank thirty minutes later with a thousand gold coins stored in a bottomless bag, a useful item that makes me interested in the art of enchanting, and head towards the book store. While the other stores look interesting, they don't really draw my attention as much as the book store. Books hold knowledge and knowledge is power, I'm hoping to get some interesting books, to both learn about this community and get a grasp on my own abilities.

Entering the building, I take a moment to look around at the various sections before heading to the one that interests me the most, Defense against the Dark Arts.

According to Fishclaw, this is the one section that deals mainly with spells for attacking and defending, I'm hoping that some of them will give me a few ideas when it comes to defending myself.

* * *

An hour later and a quick trip through the store, I make my way towards the checkout counter with a small pile of books. Despite the tens of hundreds of books on the shelves, I only chose to buy a total of eight books.

**Dueling's Top 100**: This is a magazine rather than a book but it's chock full of dueling information, as well as a list of the one hundred most popular spells used by the worlds best duelists. It's mostly a pleasure read rather than an instruction manual since the magazine doesn't tell the reader how to cast the spells, however, I'm more interested in the effects of the spells than I am the wand motions and spell words.

**A Wizards Guide to Charming the World**: This book is simply a compilation of charms of all kinds, many of which are only theories instead of created spells. A bonus with this book is that it also contains a list of the most popular wards in use, since wards fall under the charms branch, which should provide me with all the information I need on wards and their effects.

**Transfiguration: A Masters Guide**: This guide focuses on the higher tiers of transfiguration, the more difficult techniques and rules of the art. Transfiguration is an interesting art but it's also one of the easiest for someone like me, I can pretty much transfigure and conjure objects with a thought. Still, I want the book for the many theories and rules it contains.

**The Dark Arts: Recognition and Avoidance**: This is a Defense Against the Dark Arts book containing a list of defensive spells as well as the effects of many dark spells and how to avoid or counter them. This book is like the dueling magazine, in that it only contains the names and effects of the dark spells, but I don't need to know the wand motions so it's enough for me.

An added bonus is the small section at the back devoted to Curse Breaking. There are a few paragraphs on popular Curse Breaking techniques, followed by a small list of spells often used to identify wards or break the basic ones, I'm hoping it will teach me enough to handle more advanced wards on my own should the need ever arise.

**The Hypocratic Oath**: While the name is a tad deceiving, this book has everything I would ever require about the Healing Arts. It has information on not only the human body but on the spells and potions required for various injuries and maladies. My natural healing ability is usually enough to take care of things but I've never been fatally injured before and I don't really want to risk it, it's better to know it but not need it than to need it but not know it.

**Enchanting for Beginners**: This one contains information on useful enchantments such as the one on my bag, I mostly picked it up because it contains a large list of enchantments, enchanted items and items suitable for certain enchantments.

**Runic Sigils: The Lost Art**: This is a book about Ancient Runes and its use in wards, enchantments and rituals. It came highly recommended by my enchantment book and I'm looking forward to learning runes, they're usually talked about in many of my fantasy books and there's an almost endless use to them.

I'm also interested in some of the rituals the book comments on, such as the ones to increase ones magical power or gain certain abilities. There are only a few comments on them as those rituals are classified as Dark and I couldn't find any real information about them in the store. Apparently, anything related to the dark arts is illegal in this society, which frustrates me to no degree. I'd stopped seeing the world in black and white, light and dark, a long time ago. There aren't any good or evil people in the world, only the strong and the weak. Shunning one half of magic because it's dark or evil would just end up making me weaker in the end, I refuse to be weak.

There isn't much point making a fuss about it here though, this store carries none of those books but they have to be somewhere and I'll just have to keep my eye out for them.

The last book was titled **The Mind Arts: A Warlocks Guide**: This is a book on all spells that involve the mind such as the memory charm and compulsions. What interests me the most however, is Legilimency, the art of mind reading, that sounds like a useful skill to have. I grinned widely when I discovered that my meditation exercises had somehow helped me learn and master Occulumency, the art of defending the mind. The book also had a few useful ideas to help me improve my own barriers.

There were a few subjects that look somewhat interesting but not interesting enough for be to be interested, namely Potions, History, Astronomy and Divination.

Potions I have no interest in because it requires far too much time, ingredients and work for something I can probably accomplish with my magic alone. Sure, there are a few potions that look far more useful than any spell but those are the extremely complicated ones that require a masters touch. I don't want to risk blowing myself up like that, besides, I can just buy any potions that I need.

History is a subject I've never had much interest in before, I had less interest in magical history after flipping through a few books. The books were dry and the information all seemed to be biased, either for the human side or the light side depending on the conflict at the time.

I did take a moment to memorize the family trees of the Old Families, the Potters, Blacks, Malfoys, Longbottoms, and Gaunts, each one starting from an even older line such as the Le Fay, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Peverell, Ravenclaw, Emrys and Hufflepuff lines. I'm not too sure what the family lines mean exactly but I paid attention to the last three generations of each line in case I ever meet one of the members.

The last of my interest in History died as I looked over a list of Ministry laws, some of these laws are so backwards or even blatantly racist that I slammed the book shut before I gained a headache.

"That just proves I was right." I mutter darkly. "Even in the magical world, the weak are trampled by the strong."

Astronomy and Divination are subjects that I have absolutely no interest in, I know enough about the stars to find my way north and that's all I need. Divination itself is pointless for me, since only people born with 'The Sight' can use it and I'd never received the prophetic visions or signs written in the books.

* * *

As I brought my selected books to the front counter, I received a strange look from the dark haired girl standing behind the counter.

"This is some pretty advanced stuff you have here." She commented, looking the pile of books over. "Most of this isn't even taught until you graduate Hogwarts, are you sure you have the right books? I can help you with a list of the first year books if you want, though you look a little young to be starting school already."

I stare at her with wide, innocent eyes and giggle childishly.

"They're not for me silly." I say in a sweet tone, earning a smile from her. "They're for my mum, I'm only nine so I can't go to Hogwarts yet."

She giggles at me and passes the books over.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing, helping out your mummy with her shopping." She says with a wide smile. "That'll be 5 Galleons for all the books hun."

I make a point of counting out the coins and give her six with a wide grin, she smiles back and thanks me.

"Have a good day cutie, be careful okay?" She shouts as I'm leaving the store.

I turn back with a grin and wave.

"I will, thanks nice lady."

My grin turns into a smirk as I turn and leave the store, that was far too easy.

Lugging around eight books of varying shapes and sizes is quite the bother however, I need a backpack or something so I head for the luggage store next.

* * *

It doesn't take me long to find something that suits my needs, a Mokeskin Pouch.

The pouch is like my bottomless money bag, except only the owner can take things out of it and anything put inside can be recalled with a single thought. Of course, it was also very expensive, since they are rare and the owner only had six of them in stock.

It cost me eight hundred galleons but it was a worthy purchase.

With my books inside the pouch, and the pouch hanging from my belt, I head for the nearest clothing store, Madam Malkins. If I plan on leaving home in a month, I need a set of robes in case I come through the alley in disguise.

Luckily, they have several off the rack robes that I can buy without needing to be measured first, so I'm able to buy a set of five black robes and a hooded cloak, black as well. The sizes don't really matter to me since I can just change them with magic but I want to have the materials in case I come across any wards that would make conjured robes vanish.

After Madam Malkins, I head for my last stop in the alley, the pet store. A lot of the fantasy books I've read talked about wizards and their familiars, usually some type of rare magical creature but there are also a few mundane animals. I'm not sure if familiars are important or not in this society but I've always wanted a pet and now I can get one.

* * *

The inside of the store is filled with hundreds of cages, each containing a different animal from a variety of species. I walked by the cages, looking inside a few in search of a good pet. A majority of them are filled with owls, cats and toads but there are a few snakes and some small creatures I've never seen before, most likely magical.

I stop as I pass by the snakes, they all look nice and colorful but none of them interest me and I've never been a big fan of serpents before. The owls also looked exotic and smart but an owl isn't really a pet you can take wherever you go, well not outside the magical world at least.

The toads are a no go as well, with their slippery skin and loud croaking, there's no way I'm going to buy one of them. I ruled out all the magical critters too, they are more unusual than owls to carry around and quite frankly I have no idea what exactly most of them are.

That leaves me with a cat.

I don't really mind cats, I've spent enough time around them at Ms. Figgs so I know how to take care of them. They are also good pets to have since they aren't as energetic or as loud as dogs and they can care for themselves to a degree.

I spend a few minutes looking at the different cats before settling on a specific one.

The cat in question has short, black hair; total cliche right there, a wizard and his black cat. It stares back at me lazily with its yellow-green eyes, there's a spark of intelligence in those eyes and it appears to be very well behaved. It isn't as excited as the other cats, some of which are jumping about in their cages, it was just laid back and relaxed.

"Excuse me, sir?" I call, walking up to the store clerk, an old man with short, grey hair.

"Need some help there lad?" He asks, smiling at me.

I nod and point to the cage holding my chosen pet.

"I wanted to buy that cat sir."

He nods and pulls out a ring of keys, it takes him a few minutes to find the right one but he soon opens the cage and pulls out the animal. He hands me the cat but its too heavy for me to carry while shopping so I set it down beside me.

I kneel in front of it and scratch behind its ears which earns me a purr.

"Well aren't you a handsome cat." I say with a smile. "But you need a name."

He meows in reply, purring as I switch to his other ear.

"Well, if I'm going with a cliche cat, how about a cliche name." I chuckle. "You remind me of that one cat from TV, he had black hair as well and yellow eyes."

The cat meows and looks at me, his posture straight and his demeanor no longer lazy.

"How about Salem?" I ask. "Salem Saberhagen."

Salem seems to like his new name as he meows and rubs his head on my hand.

"Alright Salem, I'm Harry." I pause and look around, no one within earshot. "Harry Potter."

I get another meow in reply as I stand.

Salem is far bigger than I first thought, reaching up to my knees standing but he doesn't seem to be too much of a bother, he just follows me around the store.

At least he's as intelligent as I'd suspected.

I pick up a cat carrying cage with a weightless enchantment applied, self-refilling food and water bowls, a self-cleaning litter box and some food he seems to like. I also pick up a few toys that seem to interest him and a few books on pet grooming spells and a guide to various magical creatures.

Altogether, my purchases come up to thirty-nine Galleons and I soon walk out the store with all my items tucked into my pouch and Salem following close behind me.

* * *

Outside the store, I take a look around the alley, more people have started filling the streets but its still quite early. I don't see any more interesting stores and I'm about to teleport myself and Salem home when something catches my eye.

I turn my attention to it, 'it' turns out to be another alley branching off from this one. However, where Diagon is somewhat neat and the bright sunlight illuminates the entire street, this other street is dark as night and the entire area looks creepy and suspicious. The sign beside the entrance labels it as Knockturn Alley and the few people I can see entering it are wearing hooded cloaks that hide their appearance.

I glance down at Salem who looks away from Knockturn alley and stares back at me.

"Want to bet I can find books on the Dark Arts in there?" I ask him.

I receive a meow in return.

"Let's take a look then." I say, but I frown as I take another look at the alley. "It doesn't really look like a safe place for kids though."

Salem meows in agreement.

Looking around, I see a small alleyway beside the pet store and its neighbor. I duck in there, where no one can see me, and focus my thoughts inward. My magic spikes and I shiver as I feel it covering my entire being, my first idea was to make myself older but honestly that could have severe consequences. Instead, I cover myself in an illusion that makes me appear taller and older than I am, it works perfectly and I can see the illusion interposed on my form in a nearby puddle.

I pull out my new cloak from my pouch and slip it on, my illusionary double does the same, this is a pretty useful spell, I have to remember it for next time.

Fully cloaked, I leave the small alley and make my way towards Knockturn Alley, Salem following hot on my heels.

Knockturn, unlike Diagon, isn't a shopping district. Its mostly full of pawn stores, pubs, brothels, tattoo parlors, motels and some apartment buildings. The main problem with the area is the people that hang out here, there are a few shady characters leaning on the walls as well as a bunch of old, wart covered women walking about with plates of fingers.

Other than the inhabitants and the constant darkness that covers the area, its not a bad place. That doesn't stop me from walking quickly and keeping to myself, I also keep an eye on Salem just to make sure he's safe. Ignoring the pubs, brothels, tattoo parlors and motels, I make my way to one of the better looking pawnshops, Borgin and Burkes.

This looks like the right sort of place to find Dark Arts books, the store is dark and gloomy with shelves of dangerous looking objects, there's even a human skull and arm on one of the shelves.

"You want something mate?" A gruff voice asks from across the store.

I see a man standing behind a counter, tall and gaunt with dark eyes and hair.

I tilt my head, staring at him from within my hood, causing him to fidget. I guess he gets a lot of dangerous looking types through here, I should probably reply before he gets too spooked.

"Mr. Borgin or Mr. Burke?" I ask, my illusion naturally filtering my voice to make it sound deeper, although it comes out as a monotone.

"Borgin." He replies, "You need something?"

"Yes," I answer, stepping into the store and closing the door. "I need a few books on both the Dark Arts and Rituals."

Borgin snorts and nods his head towards a bookshelf in the corner.

"Everything I have is on there," he says. "I should also add that if anyone catches you with those, you'll be in Azkaban faster than you can say 'Expecto Patronem."

I nod back and turn to the shelf in question, there are quite a few books on the shelf but only a few catch my eye.

**Rituals of Empowerment** and **So You Want To Be A Dark Lord**, the first containing a long list of rituals both light and dark, while the second is just another list of dark spells.

Grabbing the two, I make my way to the counter and hand them over to Borgin, he stares back with narrowed eyes.

"How do I know you ain't an Auror?" He asks suspiciously.

_'Auror, what the hell are those?'_ I wonder in confusion. _'Maybe some sort of magical police?.'_

I roll my eyes and reply.

"I swear on my magic that I'm not an Auror, nor am I affiliated with the Ministry of Magic."

Magical oaths are something I saw mentioned in a history text earlier, they seem to be magically binding and have fatal consequences if broken so there was a warning to use them carefully. I took a special interest in magical oaths and life debts from that book, normally, I don't trust people but if I can get them to swear an oath? That's just perfect.

Borgin raises an eyebrow in question but nods and completes the oath. "So mote it be."

There's a flash of light and I grimace as I feel my own magic constricting me, verifying the truth of my oath. Its quite the unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling. A few seconds later the feeling vanishes and my magic returns to normal, filling me with comforting warmth.

"Well, that settles that." I say, nodding to Borgin, he nods back and looks at the two books I've chosen.

"That'll be three Galleons." He grumbles after a moment.

I raise my own eyebrow in question but he can't see it so I just hand him the coins, those two books cost more than my other eight separately.

Placing the books in my pouch, I turn and exit the store, Salem loyally following behind.

Outside the building, I take a look around and seeing as no one is watching, I pick Salem up and flicker home.

It's been a long morning.


	3. Leaving Home

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text" - Speech.

'Text' - Thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Leaving Home**

Appearing back in my cupboard at number four Privet Drive, I drop Salem on my bed, cancel the illusion around my form and cause an orb of light to appear and illuminate the small area. Salem takes a single look around the small cupboard and meows at me, annoyance clear in his tone.

"I know it's small and cramped but don't worry, I'll fix that in a second." I reply, flopping down on the bed. "I Just need a second to rest."

He meows again and lays down next to me, curling into a ball at my side and closing his eyes, i guess he's tired too. For my part, I'm feeling completely drained after the mornings events and its only noon, its not a physical weariness but more of a mental one, I had to deal with a lot of new information today.

I spend a few minutes laying in bed, slowly sorting today's memories and filing them away for later, I can feel my mind calming as the memories are filed away. A few minutes later, I'm feeling rested enough to work, I've used quite a bit of magic today but I still have power to burn.

"Alright Salem," I say, causing the cat to look up at me lazily. "We're going to be living here for the next month or so, I don't see why we shouldn't be comfortable, do you?"

Salem meows in reply and puts his head back down, his eyes open and watching me. I grin at my strange pet before focusing on the cupboard around us.

At first nothing happens, I'm simply standing in the small room with my eyes narrowed and my brow furrowed. Then, with a loud creaking sound, the walls begin to move, each of the four walls and the roof above sliding away from me. I'd gotten this idea from my new bottomless bags, if they could be expanded indefinitely, then why can't other things?

After a few seconds of this, the walls of my room stop moving, leaving me in a space roughly the size of Dudley's bedroom. I don't need much space since I only plan to stay here for another month, just enough space that I'm not cramped together with my pet and our belongings.

I flop down onto the bed once more, breathing heavily, that last trick pretty much drained the last of my power away.

Even with my metal ball to amplify the magic, I just bent the laws of time and space to my bidding, it's not a simple task. From what I learned while skimming through the books earlier, something like this requires the area to be soaked in special potions and specific runes to be carved into the wood to achieve the required effect, I did it with pure magical power and nothing else.

It's no wonder that I soon find myself slipping away into the darkness.

* * *

I wake up two hours later, feeling much better but not completely refreshed. At my best guess, I would say that only twenty percent of my power has recovered, at this rate it'll take a few more hours for the rest to come back.

I sigh and sit up, groaning at the soreness in my limbs.

_'Note to self, never use all of my magic in one go.' _I groan, rubbing my sore arms and legs. A few minutes later and I'm good to go, I decide to finish the work I started earlier, namely learning as much as I can about the magical world.

With a flick of my fingers I attach a ball of light to the roof, the first one having gone out when I passed out, and empty my Mokeskin pouch.

"Right, I have one month to read most of these and learn what I can." I muse with a frown, glancing at the ten books I purchased. "Maybe I'll visit the library again, some of those fantasy books and comics had some good ideas."

Salem makes a sound, something resembling a snort and a squeak, before opening his eyes, guess I woke him up. He looks mighty murderous as he glares at me in annoyance, I simply grin and shake my head, he's quite strange for a cat.

Ignoring the angry cat on my bed, I pick up one of the books randomly and conjure myself a table and desk.

I have a lot of work to do.

* * *

The following month is a hectic blur for me, as I try to learn as much as I can before my self-imposed deadline.

Since it's the start of summer break, I'm able to spend a large portion of my time reading and learning, not that I have much else to do. The Dursleys, as per our agreement, leave me alone, even going so far as to pretend I don't exist when I come out for meals. Since no one else really cares enough to check up on me, well other than Ms. Figg who would come around from time to time asking about me, I'm left largely undisturbed.

Much to my unexpected surprise, the first book I decided to read is the one on the mind arts and boy am I glad for it. Within the Occlumency section of the book, I found a great deal of information on creating offensive barriers within my mind, something not mentioned in the meditation books, mainly because it requires actual magic to power the barriers. Either way, anyone that attempts to penetrate my defenses is in for a big surprise. The best part however, is that there's a near impossible technique mentioned in the book, one that apparently requires years of study in the subject to use.

I had it down within an hour.

Basically, the technique allows me to rest my body, as well as a large portion of my mind while the rest of my mind is allowed to freely roam my mindscape. This allows me to skim through books during the day, glancing at the pages without really reading them, and then while I sleep to regain my energy, I can sort the memories in my mind and absorb the information provided.

It was with this technique that I was able to read and memorize all ten of my magic books in just two days, the hardest part was putting what I learned into practice. While at the Dursleys, I couldn't use much magic for fear of damaging the house or drawing undue attention to my actions, this didn't stop me from using the smaller, more subtle techniques, like Legilimency.

My hobby for the summer became reading the minds of people I passed on the street, I had to be fast since the technique only worked for as long as I held eye contact, which isn't very long as people tend to avoid holding eye contact with strangers. Luckily, with Legilimency, one second in the real world is roughly one minute in the mind, as long as the target doesn't know you're there and tries to fight back.

Slowly but surely my skills at mind reading improved, as did my skill with my magic.

* * *

Since I finished my books within the first two days of the month, I decided to spend the rest of my time reading fantasy books in the library, taking any ideas I can from them in the hopes of recreating the magic involved. That however, only lasted a single week, the library only had a certain number of books that I was interested in.

With just around three weeks left of my time, I decided to focus entirely on my magical abilities, I have hundreds of ideas and now it's time to make them reality.

From then on my schedule consisted of waking up early, eating breakfast and then teleporting to an empty field to the south. The rest of the day was then spend practicing with my magic, creating any effect I can think of and recreating the various magics I'd read about. I dove deep into my practice, working on all branches of magic regardless of their classification in the magical society, my favorite branch however is the art of warding.

Wards are so useful to my future plans, there are literally hundreds of different types of wards, each able to help me hide or remain undetected from any who would pursue me. Some were like my blood wards, mainly used for protection and defense, whereas others could be set to detect certain things like negative intent or even lies spoken within the wards. A few were for more offensive uses, aggressively attacking anyone who crossed them and could be set to either incapacitate or kill. The best ones however, like the Fidelius and the Unplotter, would allow me to go into hiding whenever I please with no worry of discovery.

Having learned to erect a few wards of my own, some of which were geared towards the prevention of magic detection, I was able to freely practice the dark arts without worrying about the ministry or Dumbledore coming to investigate. While I can easily simulate any effect with raw magic alone, I actually found that my magic is more powerful and efficient when I use the formulated spells in my books. I also found that the spells that were classified as 'Dark' are far more powerful then their lighter counterparts.

It was quite the learning experience.

The dark arts, unlike the other branches of magic, are plain addictive. While using magic in general filled my body with a warm, pleasurable feeling, the dark arts practically set me aflame in ecstasy. The more I used them, the more I wanted to use them, I wanted nothing more than to cast the next hex or the next curse just to feel that dark power coursing through me. Eventually I found myself practicing only dark spells on a daily basis, ignoring the other aspects of magic.

Of course I couldn't let this continue on, I'd sworn weeks ago that I would control my power and not let it control me, no matter how good it feels. I couldn't let this continue, the dark arts were slowly corrupting me, drawing me away from other forms of magic and making me weaker in the long run. In fact, I could actually feel the darkness tainting me, spreading through my magic and turning it more and more like the black goo I'd expelled from my scar, that was the last straw for me.

It took me a few days researching in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley but I was soon able to find a minor cleansing ritual, an extremely old one that wasn't even mentioned in any of the newer books, that would rid me of my addiction and purify my magic. According to the ancient and decrepit tome, the ritual would clear away the darkness that was tainting my core and return my magic to its original, clean state.

Too bad it didn't mention anything about the pain.

It was almost as bad as removing the black ooze from my scar, the darkness had latched on tightly and it didn't want to let go. After several hours of intense pain, pain that was required for the ritual so I couldn't suppress it, the darkness finally let go, releasing my magic and allowing the rest of the ritual to purify it. I woke up hours later, feeling completely refreshed but still sore with phantom pains, the rituals way of reminding me of the consequences of using the dark arts.

At least now I know why the dark arts are illegal, if they corrupted this easily and quickly its no wonder the ministry would out law them regardless of their power. Also, considering the hassle I had to go through just to find the cleansing ritual, I can reasonably say its not a widespread ritual, meaning that those that dabbled in the dark arts remained permanently corrupted.

Too bad I just can't give up on the dark arts, the spells are extremely powerful and seeing as I need that power, I'm not going to let a little thing like mind numbing pain get in the way. I would find a way around this, just like always.

* * *

It may have taken a couple days from my schedule but in the end I found an answer to my problem, my blood wards.

The blood wards are already programmed to protect me from most outside threats, all I have to do is add dark arts addiction as a threat and tie some power from the purifying ritual to my wards. It was a brilliant idea and while it took me a few tries, I'm well experienced at tying strings of magic together so I was able to achieve the effect I want.

The results weren't exactly what I was expecting.

My blood wards are now programmed to purify my magic, they do this by drawing small amounts of power during the day and releasing it at night, removing all dark magic taint while I sleep. Unfortunately, I had to reverse my wards in order to get the required effect, this means that they no longer protect me from outside danger.

While I could have used other wards for the purifying spell, the effect only seems to work correctly when its tied to blood and as I'm all out of blood relatives willing to sacrifice themselves for my protection, I cant erect a second set of blood wards.

It almost makes me wonder who Dumbledore tricked into sacrificing their self in order to set up the first set of wards, I'll have to remember to ask him that should we ever meet.

On the matter of my wards, I was a little upset over losing my protection but the benefits are well worth it. Not only can I use the dark arts with no consequences but I'm also getting the best sleep I've ever had in years, waking up feeling clean and refreshed every morning can do quite a bit for your disposition. Besides, it took almost no time for me to design a series of wards to protect me from both physical and magical attacks, they're not as powerful as my blood wards but they'll suffice.

* * *

Unfortunately, the business with the dark arts was more distracting than I would of liked, and my little addiction and cure used up almost all of my remaining time. I soon found myself with just three days left until my birthday and with such little time left, I was forced to speed up all my preparations and studies.

A majority of my time is spent in Diagon Alley, withdrawing gold from Gringotts and getting most of it converted into various muggle currencies. The Goblins could easily tell that I'm planning a long trip but none said anything about it, they can be quite discreet when it calls for it, especially when it come to one of their biggest patrons.

While I now have access to my family vault, I left it in the capable hands of the Goblin Nation, after all my account manager has done a good job managing my accounts these past nine years. Besides, the large sum of money in my trust vault is more than enough for my immediate plans. As for the artifacts in the family vault, only a few old tomes were worth taking, all of which are safely tucked away in my mokesin pouch.

Other than those items, the rest of the vault is full of old furniture and deactivated portraits, none of which are of any real interest to me. The only other items of note were listed as 'The Sword of Gryffindor' and 'Cloak of Peverell' but despite searching the entire vault, I found neither of them and not even the Goblins could explain why they would be missing.

They did promise to look into it though but there is little else they can do.

* * *

As the week comes to a close, I find that all of my preparations are complete and I'm ready to leave Privet drive, the Dursleys and England itself.

This is going to be my tenth birthday, in just one year I'll turn eleven and receive my Hogwarts letter, which I plan to decline of course. I honestly see no need to attend Hogwarts for seven years, the school and the wizarding community have little to nothing to teach me.

If that store clerk at the book store, and the books I've read, are to be believed then I've managed to learn more magic than most Hogwarts graduates in just one month. Sure, I have a greater understanding and control of my magic than most and I may have cheated by learning the mind arts first but that doesn't change the fact that I already know everything they could possibly teach me.

While I still need to finish recreating several spells and my dueling technique requires refinement, I can easily do all that by myself, I don't need Hogwarts or the wizarding world. I'm superior to them, I'm superior to the muggles, I don't need any of them.

With my mind settled and my decision made, I pick up Salem and my pouch, memory charm my relatives and vanish in a flicker.

I'm ready to see the world.

* * *

**-Hogwarts. General P.O.V-**

"Albus!" a voice shouted, resounding through the entire room "Albus, come quick!"

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sighed as he heard the voice shouting from his fireplace, he recognized that voice well. Standing from his ornate desk, Dumbledore took a glance over the many silver instruments that decorated his large office, one in particular drawing his attention, one tied to a special little boy.

_'Hmm, the wards are still in place and Harry seems to be healthy.'_ Dumbledore mused, making his way to the fireplace. _'I wonder what has Arabella so flustered.'_

Kneeling before the fireplace, Dumbledore smiled at the form of Arabella Figg, his eyes twinkling incessantly.

"Arabella my dear, what troubles you?" he asked, eyes twinkling in curiosity.

Arabella Figg definitely looked troubled, her eyes were searching the room nervously and when she answered, it was with a shaken tone.

"Its Harry, Headmaster." She answered, looking even more troubled. "He's gone missing."

Dumbledore's twinkle vanished as the old man frowned, he took another glance at his silver instruments. They were still reporting the same thing, Harry was safe and within the wards.

"I don't understand my dear, what do you mean he's gone?" He asked, turning back to the woman with his twinkle back in place, she must have been mistaken. "The wards are still in place."

This however, seemed to worry Ms. Figg rather than calm her.

"I don't know how Dumbledore, he just gone." She said nervously. "I went by to check on him like I usually do-"

"Check on him?" Dumbledore asked frowning, twinkle once more absent. "Why would you need to go over to the house?"

His orders were for her to stay at a distance, watching when the boy was out of the house or when she was required to babysit him. There was no reason for her to approach him, it could draw attention from the wrong sort.

"I know what you said sir but once summer started he just stopped leaving the house. Usually he's outside doing chores and yard work so I grew worried." Ms. Figg supplied, Dumbledore made a motion for her to continue. "When I asked Petunia, she said the boy had done bad in his classes and had taken to studying in his room. After a while, I began seeing him going to the library and back so I left him be but I still stopped by once a week to ask about him just in case."

Dumbledore frowned but remained silent.

Ms. Figg looked quite hysterical now.

"I stopped in to ask about him again today sir, it being his birthday and all, but Petunia... she didn't even know who he was!" Arabella explained, eyes wide and teary. "She didn't even remember him living there for the last eight years, I think she was obliviated sir."

Dumbledores' eyes widened fearfully, that definitely sounded like obliviation.

"Step aside Arabella, I'm coming through." he ordered, face stern and focused.

* * *

"Hello Petunia." Dumbledore greeted amiably as the door opened. "How are you on this fine day?"

Petunia glared back hatefully, wanting nothing more than to slam the door in his face.

"You! What do you want here freak?" She asked in a hushed, yet venomous tone.

Dumbledore simply smiled peacefully.

"I'm here to inquire about young Harry." He replied, frowning when he saw confusion clear on her face. "Your nephew, the boy I left here roughly eight years ago."

Petunia frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't seen the little freak since Lily brought him to see us."

Dumbledore sighed, this was not good at all, he would need to take an alternative method.

Gazing into Petunia's eyes, Dumbledore dove into her mind in search for information, he was not pleased with his discovery. There were no signs of obliviation within Petunia's mind, no memory blocks or fake memories he could detect, there was a faint hint of magic in her mind but not enough to latch onto. Whoever did this was a professional, not even ministry obliviators are this good.

_'Who could have done this? The obliviation is very subtle, whoever did this is very experienced with the ways of the mind.'_ He mused as he walked away, he ignored the muttered 'Freak' as Petunia closed the door behind him.

"This is troublesome, very troublesome." Dumbledore muttered, turning back around to face the house.

He swished his wand, once, twice, three times and... nothing happened.

"The wards!" Dumbledore yelped in shock. _'Someone's moved the wards, how is that even possible? How was I not alerted? It would take a great deal of time to accomplish such a task, even for a master curse-breaker.'_

Dumbledore retreated back to his office, troubled and somewhat confused. He had no idea how this could have happened, no idea how to find the missing boy-who-lived. According to his instruments, Harry was still within the blood wards and as long as he was inside those wards, he couldn't be scry or track the boy.

The old man could only console himself with the fact that the Potter heir was still in perfect health, for now at least. Hopefully the prophecy would protect him, keeping him alive until he faced Voldemort in battle. He could only hope, hope that the boy was safe and sound.

This didn't prevent him from enchanting his instruments to alert him if the boy ever left the protection of the wards however, he wasn't going to leave things to chance.

_'Stay safe Harry Potter.' _Dumbledore prayed. _'I will find you, I promise.'_

* * *

**_-_Harry's P.O.V-**

One little tidbit I'd found during my month of training, is that I can teleport to places I've seen secondhand, even if it's just through a photograph or Legilimency. As long as I have a general image of the place, I can teleport there with ease.

That's why a week after I left England, I find myself standing in waist-high grass deep in the plains of eastern Africa.

While the last month had been spent training and preparing, I'd also been planning on where I would go when I left home. Those plans were refined this past week, most of which was spent lazing about and resting in a hotel room, purchased by a twenty year old illusion of myself.

My plans mostly involve two things, gaining more knowledge and increasing my personal power. I want to learn more, to grow stronger and more powerful. So, I decided that as long as a place contains something I want to learn, I'll go there. While this isn't a great basis to make my future plans on, I'd managed to compile quite the list and there are many places I'm itching to visit.

My first stop is the wilds of Africa, there's something I need here. There's a magical creature here, native only to Africa, known as a Nundu. The Nundu is a large, leopard-like feline that roams the wilds of magical Africa, hunting prey and laying waste to the odd village. It's also a class five restricted creature according to the various ministries of the world.

What sets the Nundu apart from regular felines, other than its enormous size, is the fact that its pelt is highly resistant to magical spells and that it can exhale a deadly neurotoxin. A single adult Nundu is capable of slaughtering whole villages of people with its breath alone, entire cities once their teeth and claws are added to the mix. Coupled with their magic resistant pelt, incredible speed and large size, they are deadly predators, even to other magical creatures.

In fact, it's said that it takes roughly a hundred trained wizards to take down a single Nundu, I'm going to attempt it alone.

I'd found a few rituals that require parts of a Nundu as main ingredients but because of the dangers presented by these creatures, the few ingredients I seek are quite hard to find and are extremely expensive. If I want them, I'll have to kill the creature myself, hooray.

The fact that the parts I don't need are quite expensive is a bonus as well. If I succeed in killing the creature, I could get started on rebuilding my family's fortune. Not that I really need more money, I'm just thinking of the future generations, honest.

Anyway, here I am, with no allies other than my pet cat, stalking through the high grass in search of the deadliest predator known to wizardkind.

Why did I ever think this was a great idea?

* * *

Despite its huge size, it still takes me close to three hours to stumble across my quarry.

The pattern of its pelt helps it blend in so well that I'd thought it was a small hill until I was literally standing next to it and watching its body rise and fall with each breath.

I was twice lucky in this instant. The first being that the creature is asleep and the second being that I'd thought ahead to silence a small area around myself. I'm not looking to test my magical might against this creature, with its resistance, that would be plain suicide.

I thank the gods that I remembered to place the silencing charm, because there's no doubt that if I'd made just a single sound, the beast would have been feasting on my corpse already. Taking a few steps back, I gaze over the creature before me, I couldn't help but waste precious time staring at it in awe.

The Nundu is roughly the size of a small house, towering above me by several feet, no wonder I'd thought it was a hill of all things. Even its head is bigger than my entire body, and I felt myself gulp as I take in its razor sharp claws and rows upon rows of teeth.

How terrifying.

Now, how am I going to kill this thing again?

_'Right, the plan. Stick to the plan.'_ I thought, panic filling my mind. I can feel Salem shivering in terror, wanting nothing more than to be far, far away from this monster.

I take two breaths to calm myself and squash my instinct to run, before petting the cat to calm him. When that doesn't work, I decided it'll probably be best if Salem isn't here for this, he's already terrified and I don't want to think about what'll happen if my plan fails.

With a flicker, I reappear in my current hotel room, high in the Swiss Alps, and set my pet on the bed.

"You just wait here boy, I'll be back for you later." I explain to the now calmed feline. "There's food in your bowls so don't worry if it takes me a while."

He meows back, his tone slightly shaken, and I flicker back to the wild.

I reappear before the Nundu once more and I thank my lucky stars that it's still asleep. A sleeping Nundu I can handle, had it been awake I would be laying beside Salem at this instant, trying to forget all about Africa and my crazy ideas.

"Right, here's hoping this works." I mutter, but of course no sound escapes the little bubble of silence around me.

I raise my hands in the air and focus my will, drawing power through the ball around my neck and amplifying the meager amount of power I require for my plans. My magic surges through me, replacing doubts with its pleasurable warmth, and I bend it to my wishes.

High above the Nundu, an enormous block of metal warps into existence, roughly six feet long and sharpened to a point.

The thing about magic resistant creatures is that they're just that, resistant to **magic**. Most witches and wizards, having spent most of their lives depending on magic, never think to try physical attacks against these creatures. The ones that do think of it, usually lack the power or skill to cast the necessary spells and conjuring such a block of metal would drain the average wizard.

That's why it takes so many wizards to take these things down, they could easily shrug off all sorts of spells and even the killing curse did no more than slow a Nundu down, so it takes an entire team conjuring smaller implements to cut them down.

My idea is to strike hard and fast with large and powerful physical attacks, either transfigured or conjured weapons.

I examined the giant spike floating midair and frown.

_'This won't be enough, I need more.' _I realize, comparing the spike to the beast.

I wave my hand and the spike vanishes, a moment later, a new one appears in its place. This spike is twice the size of the original, and runes for sharpness, toughness and other such effects are etched onto the blade, causing it to glow with hidden power.

_'That's better, but I'm still missing something.'_ I muse, smirking at the giant spike.

With another wave of my hand, several dozen spikes appear midair, entirely made of steel and with runes blazing on their surface. The wonders of transfiguration never cease to amaze me, these spikes, though numerous in number and just as powerful as real metal-forged spikes are considered simple conjurations since they only last for a few minutes or one solid hit. They are made even weaker because of the runes on their surface, each sigil drawing power from the magic within the conjured item and weakening the conjuration as time passes.

They wont last longer than five minutes but that's more than enough time for what I have planned.

_'There we go, that should be enough.'_ I decide, nodding in satisfaction. _'Let's give this a try.'_

With a single thought the pikes fell, speeding through the air so fast they're mere blurs.

I hold my breath as they strike the Nundu's thick pelt-

**"ROAR!"**

-and pierce right through.

The beast wakes, its eyes burning with rage as it releases a roar of pain. It finds me far to quickly for my liking, its eyes locking onto my much smaller form, I should have turned invisible as well. The Nundu growls, glaring at me with narrowed eyes as purple gas begins leaking from its maw, it's injured but very much alive.

Even with its wounds, and dozens of spikes still stuck in its form, the Nundu is quick to leap to its feet. It glares down at me, hatred clear on its face, as more and more gas escapes its mouth.

I find myself struck dumb, staring straight into the golden eyes of the beast as true terror fills my form, there's nothing but death in those eyes, my death. My magic surges through me, reacting to my fear, and crashes against the Nundu. While it has no effect on the beast bearing down on me, it does draw me out of my stupor.

Just as I regain my senses, the Nundu lunges at me, moving far faster that I can follow, and its teeth snap closed around me. I watch all this from a tree behind the beast, having teleported the second I noticed it move. It's fast, extremely fast, there's no way I can keep up with that, my first teleportation was a fluke and I barely made it out in time.

The Nundu pulls back, finding its prey gone and begins sniffing the air.

Crap.

Having moved behind it, I'm now upwind of it and it easily catches my scent, that's bad. It has my scent now, I won't be able to hide from it, maybe I should call it quits and leave.

_'That does sound good.'_ I muse, eyes narrowed as the terrifying beast. _'But there's no way I'm running away, I refuse to be a weakling and a coward.'_

As the beast turns towards my tree, I jump down and flicker back to my original spot, a plan forming in my mind.

As I reappear in my spot, I lash out with my magic, sending bolts of pure power crashing into the creatures flank. There's no effect, other than a slight irritation. I do however, manage to draw its attention, perfect.

By now its lost a quite a bit of blood and the spikes in its body make movement difficult, yet it still manages to turn faster than I can follow and lunges at me-

**SHINKT!**

-only to have its head go flying as a massive slab of sharpened metal comes down, beheading it in an instant. The body remains standing for a few seconds before it topples over, blood pouring from the stump where its head used to be.

I release a breath in relief and collapse to my knees, that had been terrifying. Deep inside I'm rejoicing, I just killed a bloody Nundu for gods sake, alone! Yet none of that pierces through the bubble of relief within me, for a second there I had seen my death and I was terrified.

What if I'd died, eaten and devoured by a Nundu, with no one the wiser?

No one knew I was here, no one would ever suspect it.

"No! I don't have time for this." I rage, suppressing my despair and basking in the radiance of victory. "I won, I killed a freaking Nundu!"

Jumping to my feet, I release a cheer of happiness, affirming my belief in myself. I'm powerful, I'm strong, I'm no longer that weak little boy.

But somewhere deep inside the fear festers.

Fear of weakness.

Fear of death.

* * *

It takes me five hours to deal with the Nundu's corpse and harvest the materials I need, much of that time is spent clearing the area of the creatures toxic breath. Even in death, its body is still resistant to magic, although to a lesser degree than if it had been alive so I'm unable to skin it with magic. This doesn't stop me from enchanting tools to do the work for me and I sit back as various metal implements fly about, skinning and cutting up the corpse.

The pelt is rolled up and stored away, to be used for magic resistant clothing at a later time. The meat and organs are stored in equal chunks to be sold and I already have a buyer in mind, only Goblins can handle the toxins prevalent in the meat but due to the danger of the creature, the meat is quite a rare delicacy for them; they would pay out the nose for just one chunk of Nundu meat.

The poison sacks are emptied soon after and I have all of the Nundu's deadly breath stored in a series of special vials, each layered in runes to make them unbreakable. Lastly are the bones and skull, the bones I have no real use for but I can still sell them for a hefty price to collectors and the like. As for the skull, I have one of the back teeth removed for my ritual while the skull itself is stored in my pouch, it will make a fine trophy. When I'm finished, there is only a large patch of blood to show that a Nundu was ever been here, that quickly vanishes with a wave of my hand.

I take one last look around the African plains before flickering back to my room.

Salem is quite excited to see me alive and well, even if he only shows it by opening his eyes lazily and meowing at me.

"Come along Salem." I say, picking him up. "We have a few rituals to partake in."

He meows in annoyance but I just smile and flicker away.

* * *

I reappear in Diagon Alley, hidden from view behind the very pet store I'd purchased Salem from. I'm disguised once more as the brown haired boy from my first visit here, which is fine since not many will recognize me except for the Goblins.

Salem follows beside me, head held high and his tail swinging lazily, as I make my way to Gringotts. I enter the bank and immediately feel the wards wrapping around me, they still have my signature in their systems, goody.

The lines are short today and there are even a few open tellers, I make my way to one of these tellers and throw a bubble of silence around us, he looks down at me with a raised brow at the display but doesn't comment.

"How can I help you today Mr. Potter?" He asks, face stern and stoic.

Curse those wards, they ruin a perfectly good disguise.

I smile at him politely, the politeness being real this time since the Goblins have done quite a bit to help me.

"I'd like to meet with Manager Ranglow once more, if you don't mind." I reply, keeping my tone light.

He nods and signals a Goblin behind him, I drop the bubble of silence so they can converse. A few words are shared in their strange language before the second Goblin nods at me and begins walking away.

I follow behind him, passing through winding halls once more until we reach Ranglows' office, the Manager looks pleased to see me. Or at least I think he does, Goblins tend to sneer for a majority of their expressions.

"Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure to meet with you once more." Ranglow says pleasantly. "News of your unexplainable disappearance has caused quite the commotion in the wizarding community, the Goblin Nation has found it quite entertaining to watch."

I smile back and nod.

"I'm glad I could entertain you all, it should make our business today all the more pleasant." I reply as I take my seat, those few etiquette and diplomacy books I took a peek at are coming in quite handy.

He raises an eyebrow in question.

"Oh?" he asks curiously, not many bring their business opportunities to the Goblin Nation. "And what can I help you with today Mr. Potter?"

I fidget but a meow from Salem calms me, with what I have to offer they won't turn me down.

"I require use of your ritual chambers," I reply, causing his eyes to widen. "The rituals I plan to undertake are sort of um... illegal, so I am unable to use the ministries chambers and I have none of my own."

He frowns, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"While we do allow use of the chambers to certain clients for a hefty price, the nature of your own rituals will increase the price." He replies in a level tone. "It will cost far more than you can afford, I am sorry Mr. Potter but we can not agree to this."

I grin at him in amusement.

"Oh, but I wasn't offering gold for it." I say amused. "You haven't even heard my offer yet."

He sighs but nods for me to continue.

"I offer 15 tons of Nundu meat," I continue, grinning cheerily. "Of course, the Goblin Nation will have to offer me something extra in order to make the trade equal in value."

His eyes widen in shock as he stares at me, his mouth opening and shutting. The amount of meat I'm offering has never been collected before, not by the Goblins at least. There's also the fact that the last time a Nundu was killed and safely harvested was over 50 years ago, they really are dangerous creatures. While it may have been a young Nundu the last time, providing only 4 tons of meat, the meat from that occasion lasted the Goblin Nation for many years.

Finally, after several minutes, Ranglow composes himself enough to speak.

"That is quite the offer, assuming you can back it up." he says slowly, sounding skeptical. "Nundu meat is extremely rare, especially in such large quantities."

I chuckle and hand over a slab of the meat from my pouch, safely preserved with a stasis field spell, he takes a sniff of the meat and pulls back in shock.

"This is fresh?" he gasps, eyes wide. "How?"

"Well, I only killed it about six hours ago so it's somewhat fresh." I reply.

He stares at me in shock.

"You?" he asks, blinking in surprise. "You killed an adult Nundu? Alone?"

I smile and nod, saying nothing. Yeah, I'm awesome like that.

He coughs, trying and failing to keep his composure.

"Very well Mr. Potter," he replies after a moment, standing from his desk. "If you'll wait here, I need to speak with my superiors about this."

I nod and settle in for a long wait.

* * *

Close to forty-five minutes later, Ranglow returns, following behind him are two more Goblins. They appear to be far older and higher ranked based on the way Ranglow acts around them, Goblins are highly respectful to their elders and superiors.

"Mr. Potter," one of the goblins begins. "I am Director Ragrok, Director of Gringotts London."

"A pleasure to meet you." I reply, giving him a slight bow.

"This is Councillor Grimhack," Ragrok continues, holding out a hand to address the second goblin. "He is here representing the Goblin High Council."

"Hello Councillor." I greet, bowing to him as well, I receive a curt nod.

The four of us take a seat, two chairs appearing out of nowhere for the two new Goblins.

Grimhack speaks first.

"Manager Ranglow has informed us of your current terms, the Goblin High Council has agreed to make a deal with you, provided you can keep your side of the bargain." Grimhack explains, frowning at the end.

I pass him the slab of meat for proof and the look on his face causes me to chuckle, both he and Ragrok stare at the meat in shock before their eyes light up and they turn to me.

"That's just a sample, you're free to keep it." I say, that's more than enough meet for the higher ups to snack on. "I have more stored away, roughly fiftenn tons of it."

Both Goblins grin and spend a few seconds conversing in low tones, not that I could understand them even if I could hear them.

Finally Ragrok looks up and addresses me.

"We offer you access to our chambers on this day, two hundred thousand galleons and one favor owed to you." he offers, face stoic and firm.

My eyes widen in surprise at the last little tidbit, an honest to magic favor from the Goblin Nation is worth quite a a lot. This would be a magically binding favor too, so I could literally ask for anything and they would bend over backwards to accomplish it.

All in all, it's a really good deal but not good enough.

I smirk at him, knowing that I can ask for far more than they're offering but I decide to play nice, show that I can be a good ally.

"I know this meat is worth far more to you Director, Councillor, far more than you're offering," I reply, causing them to pale as much as a Goblin might, they may want this meat but Goblins like their gold. "Still, I'm willing to be lenient. After all, the Goblins have done quite a bit for me already, especially Manager Ranglow."

Ranglow puffs up with pride at my comment, if this deal goes well he's definitely looking at a promotion or a great increase in wealth at the very least.

"That's why I'll sell you this meat for.." They lean forward, eager to hear my counter offer, Goblins tend to enjoy haggling sometimes. "Unlimited access to the ritual chambers, five hundred thousand Galleons and two favors, on the stipulation that they can not be used to cause damage to the Goblin Nation itself."

They're practically drooling at the offer, I could have asked for ten times the Galleons and they still would have agreed, the meat is literally that delicious for Goblins. The stipulation that I added is also a great bonus for them, this way they don't have to worry about me using the favors in a way that will come back to bite them.

"Agreed!" Ragrok and Grimhack say at the same time.

Grimhack turns to Ranglow, who is still puffed up from my comment.

"Manager Ranglow, draw up a contract with the terms and stipulations." he orders, grinning greedily.

"Yes sir." Ranglow replies, fishing the papers out from his desk.

"While he does that, I would like to discuss another deal." I say, addressing the two elder Goblins.

They both turn to me, brows raised in question. Goblins seem to do that a lot, I wonder if they practice it.

"As you know, the meat is very fresh, this would of course mean that I have other parts of the creature in stock." I explain, receiving two nods in understanding. "I would like the Goblin Nation's assistance in finding buyers for the bones, minus the skull, and the toxic breath of the creature. In exchange, I will give you ten percent of the profits."

They spend a few minutes conversing, these items are worth quite a bit to the right buyer.

"How much of the breath do you have stored." Ragrok asks after a minute.

"About ten average sized vials, nine are for sale." I reply.

He nods and looks to Grimhack.

"We'll handle the sales for fifteen percent of the total profits." Grimhack says in an even tone.

I pretend like I'm thinking about it but I already know I'm going to agree, I don't care about the money I just want to unload this junk, I already have plenty of money.

"Very well." I reply after a few seconds, causing them to both grin or grimace, I still can't read their expressions well enough to tell.

At this point Ranglow has finished with the first contract and he begins writing up the second. I spend a few seconds reading the contract and seeing everything in its place, I sign with my full name. The second my quill leaves the parchment, the contract rolls up and pops away, a copy will be stored in my vault and another with the Goblin Nation.

"It has been a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Potter." Grimhack says, standing to leave. "The Goblin Nation looks forward to a profitable relationship in the future."

"As do I Councillor." I reply, bowing respectfully.

He nods and leaves, going back to report to the council no doubt.

Ragrok stands and I turn my attention to him.

"This has also been a pleasure for me Mr. Potter." He says with a grin, or a sneer, it's still hard to tell with Goblins. "Should you require anything in the future, feel free to request either my assistance or that of Head Supervisor Ranglow."

Ranglow perks up at that, there's that promotion he was hoping for, he looks so happy at the news, or sad, it's **really** hard to tell.

"Thank you Director, it was very nice to meet you as well." I reply with a smile.

Ragrok turns and leaves, the two extra chairs vanishing with a snap of his fingers.

That was a pretty cool exit, I need to remember that one.

Ranglow soon hands me the second contract, I sign it after a minute to peruse it over and it vanishes the same way as the first.

"Well, this had been an interesting day and it seems that I have much to thank you for Mr. Potter." He says with what is probably a grin, I don't feel like asking however, that would be awkward.

I chuckle and shake my head.

"Don't mention it High Supervisor."

The use of his new title causes his grin, yes I've decided its a grin and not a sneer, to widen as he stands and makes his way to the door.

"I'll show you where to leave the merchandise and then we can head to the ritual chambers." He says, stepping into the hallway.

I take a second to make sure my disguise is in place before following behind him, this has been a really good day, a good week even.

One week away from the Dursleys and I've managed to not only kill one of the most dangerous predators on land, single-handedly might I add, but I've also managed to more than double my already considerable fortune, that's pretty good work for a '_no good freak_'.


	4. Journey

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text" - Speech.

_'Text'_ - Thoughts.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Journey.**

Kneeling in one of the ritual chambers of Gringotts London, I take a breath as I prepare for the first of the many rituals I'll be undertaking today. As a major branch of Gringotts, this institution contains a wide variety of ritual chambers, most of which are often used by the pureblood families during certain seasons and holidays.

The room I've chosen for my rituals, is circular in shape with thousands of small runes carved into the stone walls and roof. In the center of the room there's a separate series of runes, written in the form of a circle, within a circle, within a circle, within a square. These runes are, of course, written in blood, my blood to be exact.

Due to the use of blood in these rituals, they are technically blood magic, hence illegal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic. I'm just glad that the Goblin Nation is sworn to keep my secretes, otherwise I could be looking at ten years in Azkaban, Boy-Who-Lived or not.

Taking another breath in preparation, and taking a moment to triple check the runes for errors, I stand from the floor, naked as the day I was born. Carefully watching where I step, I make my way into center of the runic array and carve a smaller set of runes into my chest with a silver blade.

God that stings.

With that done, I summon the items required for this ritual, a bone, some flesh, a vial of toxin and an eyeball. As far as ritual requirements go, the items could have come from any creature at all but the stronger the offering, the more effective the rituals will be. A Nundu is the strongest creature I can think of, so this ritual should be at its most effective, it had better be worth the risk.

I place the Nundu tooth, the strongest bone in the beast's body, on a specific rune on the first circle. This particular ritual is a two-parter, it will first repair all the damage done to my bones over the years, from either beatings or malnutrition, healing all damage and making my bones good as new. Following that, it'll strengthen or weaken my bones until they are of the same strength as the offering.

Many before me have used this ritual to make their bones either as strong as a giants, as flexible as a cats or as fragile as a birds, allowing for increased strength, speed or even flight for those so inclined, it's a very versatile ritual. I'm not aiming for strength, speed or flight however, I'm aiming for resilience. The bones of a Nundu, especially those of the teeth, are some of the strongest bones in existence. They are nigh unbreakable and it was only the hundreds of reinforcement runes on my weapons that allowed me to cleave through the material.

The small chunk of Nundu flesh is placed on the second runic circle, the offering for this ritual makes no difference as long as it's flesh of some kind, I simply went with what I had on hand. This ritual is a dark version of the purifying ritual, except rather than purifying magic, it purifies the body. It would repair the damage years of starvation and beatings have done to my body, bringing me to the healthiest someone my age can be.

With this and the previous ritual, I'll have a great chance of growing to a respectable height, no more being shorter than kids two years my junior.

The Nundu breath is poured on a specific rune on the third runic circle, an almost transparent bubble of magic appearing to contain the toxic substance. For this ritual, Nundu breath is one of the best offerings available. This ritual will make me immune to all diseases, poisons and toxins that are weaker than the offering and with Nundu breath being one of the deadliest toxins on the planet, I'll be pretty much immune to every dangerous substance know to man. The only thing that could cause me any worry is Basilisk venom, no one has ever compared it with Nundu breath to see which is deadlier.

Finally, the Nundu eyeball is placed on the runic square, the last of my body improvement rituals. This ritual will repair and improve my own vision, using the offering as a basic template. While the ritual is usually performed with the eyes of an avian creature, I want the improved night vision of a feline more than the enhanced zoom feature of an avian. The fact that my eyes will now glow in the dark is also a great bonus.

So here I am, ready to perform four major rituals at the same time, I just know this is going to hurt like a bitch.

_'Well, it's too late to back out now.' _I sigh, drawing on my magic.

My power surges through me and into the blood on the floor, the red giving way to gold as the golden glow of my power illuminates the room, there's no turning back now. I grin, a sign of false bravado, as the magic in the room swirls around me.

The ritual is starting.

Then the pain hits.

* * *

Two hours, it takes two hours of screaming myself raw for the rituals to finally finish and the pain to end. Those were the longest two hours of my life, the pain had been beyond belief, even with my Occlumency to suppress most of it.

I hear footsteps shuffling around me and then someone touches my shoulder, pain ripples through me once more and I cry out. At some point during the ritual, I fell to the floor and I'm still laying there, curled up in a ball of painful nerves. It's things like this that make me wish I'd killed the Dursleys rather than memory charming them, the ritual would have been less painful if there hadn't been so much damage to fix.

There's something at my mouth now, a vial of some kind and I'm unable to resist as its contents are poured down my throat. I just lay there in pain... wait, the pain is vanishing, it's being washed away as a flood of numbness passes through me. Finally, I'm able to move and open my eyes, I do so and smile weakly as I see Ranglow standing nearby, an empty potion vial in his hand. Pain-relief potion I'm guessing, seeing as I'm no longer a gooey mess of nerves on the floor.

"Thank you Ranglow." I say, my voice is hoarse, probably from all the screaming.

"No problem Mr. Potter, do you require further assistance?" He asks, a worried frown on his face. I hope its a frown, I would hate for my new ally to be sadistic enough to grin at my pain.

"No, I should be fine." I reply, making an effort to stand. "The pain was the only side effect, thanks for the potion."

He nods and backs out of the room, with all the dark magic hanging thickly in the air I don't blame him for feeling uncomfortable.

I look around the chamber, it looks just like it did when I started except the blood runes are gone, the sign of a successful ritual. I grin in satisfaction at this. Despite the numbness filling me and the slight twitches from phantom pains, I'm happy.

Now to inspect my reward, I would hate to have gone through all that pain for no reason.

A wave of my hand conjures a full length mirror and I take a moment to examine my new appearance, honestly there aren't many changes.

My body looks pretty much the same, just slightly fuller and a few inches taller. While I'd been beaten a lot at the Dursleys, my magic had always healed most of my obvious wounds, leaving no marks behind except for fading bruises. The bodily changes are nothing overly impressive but I'm now an average height and weight for my age, all the signs of malnutrition and abuse are gone. My head is where the most changes have occurred, other than my bones but those can't really be seen.

My lightning bolt scar, which had been slowly fading for some time, is completely gone now, leaving flat unmarked skin in its place. My eyes, which have always been a bright shade of emerald, are now ringed with gold, reminiscent of the Nundu's eyes. Lastly my canine teeth are slightly elongated and my pupils have narrowed into slits, they're barely noticeable but they wouldn't pass a close inspection.

All in all, the changes are pretty minor in the case of my body and pretty cool in the case of my eyes. I smile at my reflection and vanish the mirror with a thought, another thought sends a pulse of clean energy through the entire room.

I'm prepared for the next ritual.

As if sensing my thoughts, Salem saunters into the room, not bothered in the slightest by the thick aura of dark magic in the air.

I pick him up and hug him to my chest.

"Hey boy, were you worried about me?"

He meows in response and I set him down, sitting down before him. The cold floor reminds me that I'm still naked and I wave my hand, conjuring temporary robes on my form.

Salem sits quietly as I cut my thumb and smear a patch of blood on his face, he does hiss however when I cut his own paw and do the same to my forehead.

The ritual I'm now attempting is known as the Familiar Bonding Ritual, it would basically bond Salem and I as partners for life. As my familiar, he would gain an increase in intelligence, lifespan and magic. We would also gain a magical connection, allowing us to speak mentally and share each of our five senses. Basically, I would be able to see through his eyes or hear through his ears, if I so choose.

Frankly, the benefits of having a familiar are far too great to pass up, that's probably why the ritual is restricted to adults only by the Ministry.

So, with the blood connection in place, I move onto the second part of the ritual, the oath. The oath requires that I swear my intentions with my chosen familiar while using my full name and titles, as it would be a magically binding oath on the scale of the Unbreakable Vow. The name and titles had taken me a while to find but the Goblins were very helpful in that regard, they had all of my information in their ledgers.

"I, Harrison James Potter, publicly proclaimed Boy-who-lived, heir to the House of Potter by blood and magic and heir to the House of Black by blood and magic, do hereby claim Salem Saberhagen as my one true familiar. I swear to stand beside him so long as he does me, and to always care for and protect him to the best of my ability. All this I do swear on my magic, my blood and my life." The words echo throughout the chamber, growing in intensity as magic swirls around my chosen familiar and I. "So mote it be."

The thick aura of magic crashes down around us and I feel a connection as my magic latches onto Salem, asking his permission to continue. Salem seems to accept as the feeble thread of magic strengthens immediately and connects our minds. Thoughts and feelings that are not my own pour into my mind but I manage to put up my barriers before I'm overwhelmed. As a familiar, Salem has his own barriers that prevent him from hearing my every thought, we'll still be able to communicate by focusing on the link however.

**'Well, that was mildly discomforting.' **A deep, lazy voice echo's through my mind.

_'Salem?'_ I ask in surprise, the voice is that of an older male.

**'No, the other being you have a mental connection with.' **He replies sarcastically.

I grin down at the small cat that's staring back at me lazily, he rolls his eyes at my grin, which is a strange sight to see coming from a cat.

_'This is kind of cool.'_ I say, excited beyond belief.

Salem snorts.

**'I suppose so, at least now I can answer when you ask stupid questions.'**

_'Hey! I don't as stupid questions.'_ I reply indignantly.

He rolls his eyes again and yawns.

**'Do you have another one of these things to do or can we go home, I'm hungry.'**

I'm a bit caught off guard by the rapid change in subjects but its to be expected, cats aren't exactly known for their focus and one track minds.

"Yeah, just one more." I say out loud, standing up.

I concentrate on the image in the books and wave my hand, causing a circle of runes to carve themselves into the floor surrounding the black cat.

_'Stay inside the circle.'_ I tell him, stepping back and away.

**'Whatever, just hurry it up.' **He replies in the lazy tone I'm coming to associate as my familiars.

I start chanting a series of Latin words, I don't know what they all mean but they're required for the ritual. This ritual, the third and final, is a variation of the post owl ritual. The original ritual, when used on an owl, would apply a powerful and permanent Point-Me charm as well as a Feather-Light charm to the selected owl. This allows post owls to easily find anyone they seek, as well as carry heavy parcels over large distances.

My variation replaces the Feather-Light charm with a Size-Changing charm, this will give Salem not only the ability to find people, like a post owl, but he will also have the ability to grow and shrink at will.

I'm pulling out all the stops for my familiar.

A flash of light and a pulse of magic signifies the end of the ritual, the runes have also vanished, leaving Salem sitting alone on the featureless floor.

_'Did it work?'_ I ask, seeing no changes in his appearance.

Salem leaps off the ground, shrinking midair until he's the size of a small kitten, and lands on my shoulders.

_'That answers that.' _I smirk, reaching up to pet his head.

**'Indeed, maybe you are pretty useful, for a human.' **Salem replies, brushing against my hand.** 'Can we get some food now?'**

_'Soon, I need to make one more stop.'_

**'I take back what I said, you're still pretty useless.'**

Why did I think this was a good idea again?

* * *

"Hello sir, how may I help you today?" Madam Malkin asks as I enter her store, disguised in my twenty year old form.

"Hello Madam, I'd like to commission a set of battle robes please, muggle acceptable." I reply, walking up to the counter.

She nods and writes the information on a note pad.

Muggle acceptable robes are robes that can be worn in the muggle world without drawing too much attention, basically they're trench coats with slight differences.

"How many robes and what color?" She asks.

"Six, two in black with red accents, two in dark-green with silver accents and the last two in dark-blue with black accents."

She nods and writes it down.

"Size?"

"Small, magically adjustable." I reply after a moment.

This will make it so that the robes shrink and grow to size the wearer, to a certain degree at least.

"Material?" She asks.

I grin and pull out several rolls of tanned Nundu hide, enough to make quite a few outfits. It had taken me several hours to apply the tanning charm to the hide, the magical resistance of the material makes it so that every spell cast on it requires more power than usual. Even a killing curse would need to be overpowered slightly to punch through this hide, although I'm not planning on getting hit with one of those anytime soon. Normally, my magic would have no effect on the hide at all, but thanks to my lovely necklace I'm able to easily overpower the required spell.

"Nundu hide." I answer.

Her eyes widen and she stares at the material in shock, like I said before, there's more than enough hide there to make several outfits.

"N-nundu hide?" She gasps, looking at me in a new light. In her mind, someone with that much Nundu hide has to be filthy rich.

I just smile and nod, neither confirming or denying my wealth.

She nods absently and writes it down.

I pass her enough hide for the clothes with some extra left over and put the rest back in my pouch.

"Anything else sir?" She asks after a few moments, her shock seems to be fading and she's more composed now.

"Yeah, can I get six dress shirts please, all of them made of Acromantula silk and equally divided into green, silver and black. Also add three vests and six ties, the same colors as the robes and made of Dragonhide."

She nods and marks it down.

"Is that all sir?"

"Yes, how long will it take?" I ask.

"Uh.. about a week or so, it will take me and my girls some time to work with such resistant hide." Madam Malkin says after a few moments contemplating.

It'll probably take her and her assistants hours of continuous casting to work the hide into an appropriate form, at least they've had some practice with Dragonhide, they should be able to handle this.

I nod in reply.

"Very well, I'll be back in a weeks time." I reply, making my way to the exit.

With my business in the alley completed, I return to my little side alley and flicker back to the hotel room. Salem is quick to find his meal bowl and I leave him to it while I flop down onto the bed, today has been quite taxing and I want nothing more than to lay down and rest.

Seconds later, the world goes dark as I fall asleep.

* * *

**-One Week Later-**

I walk out of Madam Malkins with my package in hand, she and her girls have done an excellent job, one which earned them a very generous tip.

Once the coast is clear, I flicker back to my newest hotel room, located somewhere in New York city, and place the new sets of clothes with my other robes and wizarding clothes. In addition to the six coats, six shirts, six ties and three vests, I also bought six black dress pants, made of ordinary fabric, as well as two sets of Dragonhide boots, both in black.

Altogether, the outfit looks like a mix between formal and street, not too bad a mix.

**'Well, look who's back, here for another annoying visit?'**

I jump in surprise and turn to where I now sense my familiar, having missed him before. I'm actually surprised he's still awake since its really late here in the States, there's also the fact that he's quite the lazy feline. Salem lays curled up on a nearby chair, his glowing eyes staring at me in the darkness of the room. I chuckle and stare back, knowing that the golden rings in my eyes are glowing as well. Even in the darkness of the room, I can see quite clearly and I marvel at how useful a felines eyes are in the dark.

_'Hey Salem, sorry I can't stay this time, I've got to be up early and I only stopped by to drop off these packages.'_

He snorts and his eyes close, guess I woke him then.

**'Whatever, bring me a tasty snack next time or I'll eat you.'**

I chuckle once more and flicker away, leaving him to his rest.

* * *

While I may have a hotel room rented out for the next few months, I don't actually stay there overnight. Nope, my days and nights are now spent in what I cheerfully refer to as hell on earth. For some strange reason, I'd thought it a great idea to join the army, you know, to pick up some useful skills, get into decent shape and learn about muggle weaponry.

It all sounded like a great idea at the time.

Of course, with the States having one of the best armies on the planet, I decided to enlist there. It also helps that they're currently in the middle of a war and don't seem to care all that much if I have any official documents or not. Apparently, they get a lot of applicants that have spent most of their lives on the streets so it isn't a far stretch for me to play the runaway orphan role.

The main problem however, is that rather than signing up for basic academy training, I'd somehow managed to accidentally join the United States Ranger School, a school well known for having the toughest combat course in the world. Coupled with the current war in Kuwait and I now find myself being tortured on a daily basis, metaphorically speaking of course. My first week at this place has been hell, especially since I have to do all this training in a ten year old body while constantly holding up the illusion of an eighteen year old.

Yeah, it's killer.

The only good news is that after a week of this, I've not only gotten into better shape and started to gain some muscle, but I've also learned quite a bit of combat information and my magic is getting stronger and stronger each day. It turns out that magic is like a muscle as well, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. The increase in power isn't too significant but it is noticeable, it will take a few months of hard work to get anywhere significant but I'm sure I can do it.

Regardless of the benefits, this training is a pain. One week was tough enough, I don't think I can last until the end, it's going to be a long two months.

* * *

**-Two Months later. General P.O.V-**

When asked about Private Harrison Potts, most would give a mixed reply.

To some he was a fun guy to hang out with, usually the life of the party with his quick wit and weird sense of humor, he was good friends with many who knew him and they all had nothing but good things to say about him.

To others he was a useless soldier, one who had nearly failed his Ranger training.

The kid had been thin and gangly when he'd signed up, his blonde hair cut short and his blue eyes filled with nervousness. Not many thought he would last through the training, not many thought he should have finished. While Private Pots was able to complete many of the daily exercises, a few in record time even, he was a failure at direct combat.

Sure, the kid could take a hit and he had some of the strongest bones to ever come through the place but he was an absolute failure on the offensive. The kid was small and lithe, built for speed and athletics, as was usually the case with most street rats. The problem was that even after weeks of combat training, he just wasn't improving. In fact, all of his peers were able to easily overpower him, even the ones that were much smaller than him.

It was like he had the strength of a much younger child.

At first, his instructors had wanted to give him the boot after his abysmal results in combat, there was no place for the weak in the US Rangers. That opinion changed the second the kid was given a gun. The boy had perfect eyesight and exceptional aim, something not usually found with street orphans. Once he got used to a weapon, Potts could hit any target with ease. He scored one hundred percent on all the range courses, even the night missions.

Frankly, the kid had excellent night vision, above average even. Given time, he would become an expert marksman, a sniper of great repute even.

It was such a pity he died so young.

After completing the 61 day course of Ranger training, Potts had immediately been shipped off to Kuwait as every soldier was needed if they were going to win the Gulf war. Sadly the boy didn't even last a week, although he died quite the hero, sacrificing himself so his unit could escape.

Potts had been posthumously awarded various medals for service, more than any low ranked Private in recent history. After all, he had single handedly distracted and killed over two hundred of the enemy forces and saved the lives of over forty men.

It was a pity his body had been lost in the explosion.

* * *

**-Harry's P.O.V-**

I huff as I flop onto the bed, allowing my illusion to fade away, I still have my army fatigues on but I'm just too drained to care, faking your own death does tend to do that.

On that note, my mind turns to the two hundred men I'd just killed, two hundred enemy soldiers that had the misfortune to cross my path. Strangely enough, I don't really care about the fact that I'd just murdered two hundred men with magic, just so I could fake my own death.

It just doesn't seem to bother me.

Not a surprise considering the efforts the army went to in order to desensitize the lot of us, still, I should be feeling something shouldn't I?

_'Why?'_ A part of my mind asks, the same part that had reveled in the dark arts and the power it provided. _'They were weak, you were strong, it was your right to eliminate them.'_

"They were still people." I sigh, now actively arguing with myself.

_'They were muggles, Iraqi muggles, inferior even amoungst their own kind. Do you really think they would have cared if it was the other way around? Do you think they would have cared if they had killed you? It was a war, they would have killed you without hesitation or regret.'_

**(A.N: The views expressed by Dark Harry do not represent those of the author.)**

I didn't really have a reply to that, it was true after all. They may have been people but they were still muggles, just like the Dursleys, they were weak and beneath me. Why should I care about their deaths? I may not be a huge fan of killing but I prefer being the killer over being the victim.

_'You are strong, you will never be the victim. Never again'_

"Yes, I am strong. I refuse to be a victim again, I refuse to die."

The last couple of months in the army have really brought me face to face with my own mortality, the men I had spent the last few weeks with were all killers or training to be killers. I was soundly crushed in every combat exercise, if that had been a real battle I would have surely died. Even still, if they had wanted to, any one of them could have easily killed me. They could have snapped my neck in training or shot me while I was distracted, it was hard to trust any of them when they could have stabbed me in the back at any moment.

The army had brought back my time with the Nundu, staring into those eyes and seeing only death.

I hated it, I hated my mortality. I'm supposed to be superior, I can't afford any weakness, not even death.

"I don't want to die..." I mumble sleepily, finally succumbing to my exhaustion. _'Someway, somehow, I'll find a way to live forever.'_

I refuse to die.

* * *

After spending all of that time with the army and the day before thinking about my own mortality, I'm up for a change of pace. I skim through my list, looking for something that is both spiritual and low in physical demand. While it isn't perfect, the body I've built up with my training is a work of art. I had to be the only ten year old in the world with a budding six pack, I worked hard the last two months and it shows.

Unlike my muggle peers however, I won't need to constantly exercise to keep my figure, I can easily burn any excess fat and calories away with my magic, my body is mostly muscle now and I plan on keeping it that way.

While the list I've compiled is short but concrete, It still takes me a few minutes to find an activity that suits my demands. It has to be something spiritual to deal with my problems with death and mortality, yet at the same time it couldn't be too physically intensive, I'm still young and I need time to rest after two months of straight exercise.

Despite the specific requirements, I manage to choose my next destination with relative ease, the place is a small monastery situated on Mount Hiei in Japan and it also serves as a home to a small group of monks. My plan is to spend the next month or two learning meditation from true monks, a relatively stress free task.

While I already know plenty about the mind arts and meditation, there is always room for improvement and who better to teach me than monks that have been doing so all their lives. There is also the fact that I haven't had anyone test my mental defenses yet, so I don't quite know how strong they are, this is an opportunity to improve them just in case.

_'Salem, I'm off to the mountains next, want to come?'_ I ask my familiar, he wasn't able to join me at the Ranger school so I'm making sure to ask first this time.

**'Get bent.'**

I snort and hold in a laugh, my familiar could be quite rude at times. Then again, I should know better than to wake him up so late at night.

_'Alright then, see you later buddy.'_

**'Bring some food with you.'**

He's also a bit of a lazy glutton.

* * *

I flicker into being on a small ledge close to my target, it had taken me a quite a while to find a picture of a close enough location but I'd managed it. The internet is such a useful tool, it's just a pity that the closest location is halfway down the mountain. With a sigh, I start climbing the hundreds of steps leading to the top of the mountain, my newest disguise falling into place with each step.

I'm going disguised as yet another orphan, Japanese this time and definitely a street urchin. I don't have to do much for my looks, other than a change in skin tone and minor facial feature, my regular hair is fine and all it takes is a small glamour over my eyes to make them black in color. My biggest concern is the language barrier as I don't know the language and while I'd learned a nifty translation charm, I had yet to test it out so I don't know whether it will work or not.

Well here comes the moment of truth, I'm nearing the mountaintop and there is a man waiting for me, he's clearly a monk from his shaved head and orange robes.

"What do you want here young one?" He asks in Japanese, well now I know that the charm works.

His voice comes out slightly monotone and his face remains completely blank of emotion, even his eyes reveal nothing. I'm definitely in the right place, even with my skill at the mind arts, I don't have this level of emotional control. Then again, I find that I'm more suited to Legilimency than Occlumency, its sort of a weird trade off, I'm offensive mentally and defensive physically.

"Greetings honorable monk." I reply, also in perfect Japanese. "I have come seeking guidance and spiritual peace."

The Japanese enjoy their titles and flowery language quite a bit, they're almost as bad as the British purebloods in that regard, except most Japanese actually work to earn their titles while the purebloods live off of their ancestors work, just another strike against the magical world.

"Indeed?" He asks, showing no sign of curiosity or emotion. "And how do I know you haven't come to steal from us while we sleep? You wouldn't be the first."

I put on a shocked expression and my eyes begin to water, I may lack his control at hiding emotions but I'm very good at projecting emotions.

"I am sorry that such criminals have mistreated your generosity sir," I say in a defeated tone, turning to leave. "I merely sought spiritual guidance but I see you do not trust me, you are not the first, nor will you be the last."

That's right, I threw his words back at him, suck on that you bald asshole.

"Very well young one, enter and receive guidance." He says after a few seconds, I grin widely and follow behind, playing the role of an eager student.

People are just too easy to manipulate sometimes, then again I do have an unfair advantage. After all, once you've read the minds of several hundred people, it not hard to learn what buttons to push.

Besides, no one can resist a cute and adorable orphan, no one.

* * *

**-Two Months Later-**

I wave at a few of the passing monks as I leave the large monastery behind, having found spiritual guidance, I have no reason to remain here.

Or so I tell them.

It hadn't been too hard to gain the trust of a few of the monks with my cute orphan routine, after that I just showed them how much of a sponge I was and the rest just fell into place. Having mastered basic meditation ages ago, I was able to easily breeze through their exercises, much to the shock of my fellow initiates.

After that, it just took some arguing, and the odd compulsion charm, to get one of the older monks to teach me the more advanced techniques.

It was quite the experience.

The techniques the monks employ have allowed me to reach a whole new level of tranquility, diving deeper into my mind than ever before. It was something I had never experienced before, having my entire being at peace for those few moments.

I'd loved it.

Choosing to learn from these monks was a great idea, I've never been so calm and composed in my entire life. They had so much to teach about the mind and soul, so much to teach about the world itself. I learned the value of patience, the value of perseverance and the worth of calmness. I also discovered a whole new level of mental defense and offense, being able to dive deeper into my mind than before gave me far greater control over my mindscape, it also gave me a greater understanding of the human mind which improved my Legilimency skills.

The best part of all this however, was the chance to face my fears head on. I no longer fear death or weakness, they have no sway over me anymore. Death and weakness are just concepts to me now, concepts I plan to one day surpass and crush beneath my heel.

While I no longer fear death, I don't want to face it either, the thought of one day dying and vanishing into nothingness disagrees with me.

But I not afraid of it and that's what counts.

As for my weakness, well... I'm already dealing with that aren't I? That's what this entire trip is about after all, to become stronger.

With these few teachings, everything seems to fall into place for me, I'm no longer ruled by my emotions, no longer controlled by my fear.

I'm in control now.

All in all, this trip was well worth it, I'm now rested and refreshed, both mentally and physically.

* * *

**-Next Day-**

Salem and I flicker into existence inside of our newest hotel room, located somewhere in downtown Kyoto. I'd loved my time at the monastery so much that I decided to extend my time in Japan, it's a beautiful country after all and there are other items on my list that require me to stay in this country. The fact that hundreds of my favorite manga are sold just down the street may have also helped with that decision, despite my unnatural maturity I'm still a kid at heart.

Regardless of my manga obsession, I have two reasons for my long term trip to Japan. The first being said manga obsession, except I have a logical reason for it. The Japanese manga, as well as the odd Korean and Chinese manga, are chock full of techniques and spells that I have no problem stealing. They have so many creative techniques to supplement my spells, that it would take me ages to learn them all. I chose to learn just a few handfuls at a time, mostly just the ones that catch my eye.

The second, more important, reason is to learn martial arts. After my abysmal time in the army and reflecting at the monastery, I realize that I'm weak physically. It's to be expected though, since no child my age could hope to defeat a full grown man in combat, not without cheating of course. While I could increase my strength with rituals of the dark sort, those usually involve live sacrifices and that's a bridge I have no plans of crossing yet. Besides, I'm sure the Goblins would be really peeved if I used their chambers like that.

On that note however, I'm working on a spell to temporarily increase my physical strength, sort of like the ninjas in the Naruto manga.

It's still a work in progress.

Since I currently lack the strength and ability for most forms of close combat, I chose one that would suit me best. It works well for small and fast builds, requires little physical strength and is mostly defensive in nature, all of which suits me just fine.

I'm going to learn Aikido.

* * *

**-Seven Months Later-**

I grin cheekily as I flip Master Saito onto his back once more with hardly any movement on my part, this is getting to be far too easy, even for me.

When I'd signed up for the class over half a year ago, Master Saito had told me that it would be a long and arduous process, one that would take many years to fully master.

I surpassed him in five months.

Well, I may have cheated to a degree, the fact that I have Legilimency was a huge bonus seeing as I could just take a peek into Master Saito's mind and copy his knowledge. I only did this once in a while however, since I needed the time to master the few bits that I did copy. Still, it didn't really slow me down all that much, after all, I only need four hours of meditation a day to be fully refreshed. This allows me twenty hours in the day to practice and that's just what I did, I spent countless hours simply practicing the art, stopping only to eat or meditate.

I trained for six days each week and allowed my body to rest on the seventh day, taking the time off to read and compile new techniques to learn. With that type of schedule, I was able to fit several decades worth of training into just seven months. It also helped that I was already physically fit from my army days and mentally prepared from my time as a monk, I started the training at my best and could only go up from there.

With such quick progress, it was no wonder Master Saito thought I was some sort of prodigy, after all he only instructed me three times a week for two hours at a time. In his mind, I was doing some self-study, learning the art as a hobby through a book and only coming to him to refine my technique. To him, I only had a few hours a day to practice, after all kids my age had to go to school during the day and study at night. With all that put together, it wasn't hard for him to consider me a prodigy, someone with a natural affinity for the art and was able to grasp the concepts easily.

If only he knew the real amount of hard work I put into this training, the hours spent in constant practice, focused on just one goal.

To get stronger.

While I no longer fear being weak, I still don't like it. My physical failures are a weakness and I would do anything to stomp out that weakness, especially if it just cost me a few short months of my time.

The major contribution to my mastery of the art however, is the fact that Aikido is perfect for me. The art involves blending with the motion of an attacker and redirecting the force of their attack rather than meeting it head-on. Because of this, it requires very little strength but plenty of speed, as well as the ability to anticipate your opponents movements in order to counter properly.

Legilimency helped a lot in that regard.

With my skill in that branch of the mind arts, I'm able to not only know my opponents movements the second they think of it but I can also control them minutely, allowing their movements to work in my favor.

It pissed Master Saito off immensely since he could never figure out how I did it, his best guess was that I was controlling him through my own movements, forcing him to act in a way that was in my favor. If only he knew I was actually controlling him by inserting my own thoughts into his mind, making him think they were his own ideas until it was too late and he had already acted on them.

The Jedi mind trick was such a useful skill, I just couldn't help but steal it.

Anyways, back to my awesome martial arts skill.

With my speed, reflexes and Legilimency, I was able to claim an Aikido mastery in just seven short months. I was so good that many expected me to go far, I was expected to win countless martial arts tournaments and spread the glory of Aikido to the rest of the martial arts community.

It was such a pity that I died so young.

Akashi Kwan, the martial arts prodigy, the one expected to raise Aikido to new heights, gunned down in some back alley, his body torn apart by dogs and other animals until it was barely recognizable.

Such a pity, no one saw it coming.

Frankly I'm getting far too used to faking my own death, it's a bit weird considering my past fear of the subject. However, one of my main weaknesses had been defeated, it was time to move onto the next one.

Now, how am I going to cheat death?

* * *

**-One Week Later-**

**'This is boring.'**

_'I know it is but if it works, you'll be thanking me a thousand years from now.'_

**'Assuming you're less useless then, I probably might.'**

I sigh in slight annoyance and turn back to my book, I've spent this past week researching immortality, flipping through hundreds of books in search for an answer.

It's not going well.

Currently, the magical world has three different forms of immortality.

The first is Vampirism, something I'd come across in many popular manga and while it was certainly interesting in the manga, that couldn't be any farther from the truth in life. Real vampires are pretty much soulless, mindless zombies with a taste for blood, rather than brains. They barely have any of the strengths of fictional vampires but all of the weaknesses, worst of all is that any magical that gets turned into a vampire losses their magic.

The second option is an item known as the Philosophers Stone, an object able to brew the elixir of life and turn any metal into gold. The drawback is that the stone is currently protected by its six hundred year old creator, Nicolas Flamel and his wife. The man has managed to protect the stone for well over five hundred years, there's no way I'm going to get it from him without a fight. There's also the fact that one needs to drink the elixir on a constant basis to stay alive and it only grants a sort of pseudo-immortality, keeping the user young but not protecting them from other forms of death.

The last option is something called a Horcrux, a soul container of some sort that ties its creator to the mortal world, preventing them from fading to the afterlife. The problem is that I have pretty much no clue how to make one, finding books on the subject is pretty much impossible, with only the barest mention of them appearing in the books I'd bought. It was like someone had set out to systematically destroy every bit information on the topic, probably someone who didn't want the information becoming widespread.

Without an idea on how a Horcrux is made, I can't attempt to make one of my own. Well, I can but I just don't feel comfortable performing experiments on my soul like that.

With all known magical options blocked for me, I turned to my biggest avenue of new ideas, the world of fantasy and fiction. Fantasy books are chock full of this sort of thing and if I could somehow emulate them, I could create a brand new form of magical immortality, I just have to take an idea from one of these books and make it reality.

How exciting.

Unfortunately, a majority of these ideas seem to stem from the same three things, vampirism or some kind of undead infection, an elixir or potion of some kind, and lastly experimenting with the soul in some form. Since vampirism is out and most of the potions and elixirs are just made up fantasy bullshit, that left me with limited options.

A few such options involved leaving my mortal body behind and existing purely as energy, basically I would be ascending to some form of godhood. I crossed that off as impractical and near impossible, I like my mortal form and existing as pure energy would be tiresome.

Another idea was transferring my consciousness into some form of machine, living on as a human/machine hybrid. Luckily, humanities technological skill isn't at that stage yet and even if I could build such a machine on my own I wouldn't, its not a very viable form of immortality and I don't much like giving up my flesh and blood.

One option I really considered was the body switching option, being able to jump to another body before death is a marvelous thought. I had to discount it however, because it involves dangerous experiments with my soul and I don't much feel like giving up on my body after all the hard work I put into it.

The best option overall, is to create some form of healing factor, one that could fully regenerate my entire body as long as a single cell survives. That idea is far too difficult to accomplish however, to create a ritual for a healing factor that powerful would take more magical power than any person could generate. My best option is practically impossible to accomplish, not unless I want to pass out from magical exhaustion and implode my magical core, effectively killing myself in the end.

The last few options are really far stretches, some are even impossible to fathom. They include things like becoming a god, being cursed with eternal life by a more powerful being, rejecting or cutting out my own heart and devouring souls to continue living.

In the end, I spend over a week searching for some form of immortality I could successfully emulate. I was so engrossed in my work that I missed the passing of my eleventh birthday, if I hadn't then I might have found it strange that I didn't receive my Hogwarts letter.

It was the knock on my door that broke through my scholarly haze.

* * *

**-General P.O.V-**

As he opened the door, Harry was quite surprised at the odd collection of individuals that greeted him.

The first is an elderly woman with the strictest expression on her face that he'd ever seen, as if she'd never had a moment of carefree joy in her life. The second is an elderly man, far older than the woman, with hair and a beard so long that they almost touched the floor. The last is a much younger man, with a sour expression on his face as he glanced over Harry.

Oh! They were also dressed in long robes, very _colorful_ robes in the case of the old man, and pointed hats in the case of the old woman.

The magical world had finally tracked him down, joy.

"Yes?" Harry asked in Japanese, a single brow raised while keeping his face void of emotion.

"Are you Harry Potter?" The old man asks in surprisingly good Japanese, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" Harry asks again, staring back.

"Albus, are you sure you have the right place?" The woman whispers in English, not low enough however. "The Potters were English, the boy looks completely Japanese."

Albus huh? That means the old man is Albus Dumbledore, how... interesting. He hadn't really expected the great Albus Dumbledore to be so flamboyant looking, he was like a colorful Gandalf and what was with the twinkling eyes? It was just creepy.

"Oh, my bad." Harry interrupted in clear English, dissolving his disguise at the same time.

They'd already tracked him down, so there was no point trying to hide right now, maybe after he found out how they'd tracked him but until then he would cooperate.

Two gasps met his change, from the old couple, while the younger man narrowed his eyes.

"You're a Metamorphmagus?" The old woman asks in a shocked tone.

Harry chose to just shrug, let them think what they want.

"What happened to your eyes?" Dumbledore asks, his twinkle gone and his eyes looking focused.

"That looks like the effect of the Occulastis Ritual." The younger man replies with a slight smirk. "Looks like Potter has been dabbling in the Dark arts."

Harry chose to turn turn his attention to the younger man, raising one brow in question.

Somehow he recognized this guy, but how?

"The ritual isn't dark Severus, despite what the ministry says." Dumbledore says in an admonishing tone. "Madam Hooch has employed it once before and she raves about its usefulness, especially that hawk like vision of hers."

"You're Severus Snape." Harry said in an even tone, interrupting once more.

This seems to startle Snape, although he keeps it well hidden.

"How do you know that? I don't believe we've met before Potter." He asks with a sneer.

"You were featured in **'Wizarding Today's Top 100 Witches and Wizards of the Century'**, the youngest Potions Master in history I believe." Harry replied before turning to the other two. "As were you Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, Master Transfigurators."

Dumbledore seems a tad upset at this show of knowledge while McGonagall smiles kindly and Snape preens.

"Indeed, I am glad to see that you know of us my boy and of our world," Dumbledore says, looking every bit the opposite of his comment. "Now, may we please enter and speak to your guardian?"

Harry simply cocked his head to the side, pretending to think while glancing them over, he was sure he knew why they were here but should he allow them in? Might as well, he wouldn't be staying in this hotel or country much longer after this and he still needed to know how they'd found him.

"Very well," he said, stepping away from the door and allowing them access to the spacious hotel room. "However, I have no guardian, I've been on my own for the last year or so."

Dumbledore looks skeptical at that but doesn't say anything, he simply takes a seat, smiling benignly and with his twinkle on full blast. McGonagall joins the old man at the table while Snape chooses to lean against a wall, well away from the group. Harry chose one of the empty seats, making sure to keep them all in his sight.

"Surely someone had been taking care of you my boy, whoever removed you from your relatives home must have afforded you some kind of care." Dumbledore says, looking around the room, it is a high class room after all.

Harry's eyes narrow at him and he allows first bit of emotion to show, a hateful sneer.

"First off Mr. Dumbledore, I am not your anything, you will address me by my name or not at all." He announced, keeping his tone even despite his hateful expression.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall gasps, looking affronted. "The headmaster has done nothing to deserve such disrespect, I would think you would have the manners to make such a request in a more polite manner."

Snape snorts and mumbles something to himself, the words Arrogant, Spawn and Potter make their way to the table.

The teens eyes narrow to slits as he turns his attention to McGonagall.

"This man has done nothing to earn my respect, only my ire." He replied, keeping his tone even and his expression blank. "He did after all, leave me unannounced on a doorstep with nothing but a note and a thin blanket to protect me from the elements."

Dumbledore blanches at this, his twinkling eyes focusing once more. Snape's eyes narrow in turn, glancing at the older man. McGonagall however continues to glare.

"I'll have you know that I applied a warming charm and a Notice-Me-Not on your form that night, you were perfectly safe." She grounds out.

* * *

**-Harry's P.O.V-**

_'So, she was there too? Interesting. By the look on his face, Snape wasn't there that night though.'_ I think to myself, glancing at the expressions of the three before me. _'Now, I have two people to blame, Dumbledore and McGonagall.'_

"Is that so?" I ask, turning my head at an angle. "And what's your reason for leaving me with a pair of magic hating muggles? Or that you didn't bother to remove the highly dangerous and near fatal curse attached to my scar? You must have known about it, seeing as you placed the wards that attempted to keep the curse at bay, at the cost of my own magic."

Her eyes widen and she turns to look at Dumbledore, who now has a grim expression on his face.

"Oh, you didn't know? Did the wise and mighty headmaster not tell you?" I ask, adding some mockery to my tone. "Which reminds me Dumbledore, who was it that you sacrificed to erect those blood wards? Must have been someone close to me, based on their power."

Dumbledore sighs tiredly but I can practically see his mind racing, connecting dots and planning.

"You know much Mr. Potter, far more than I'm comfortable with." He says after a moment. "However, the answer's to your questions all stem from one point, your mother."

My face remains blank but I motion for him to continue.

"You know of the attack when you were young? The one that lead to your fame in the magical world?" He asks.

I simply nod.

"It was during this very attack that you gained that scar and the curse that came with it." Dumbledore explains. "It was also during this attack that your mother sacrificed herself to protect you, I didn't erect the blood words as you believe, I simply expanded them around your home to protect you and your family."

I'm silent for a few moments.

"And the Dursley's? What reason did you have to leave me with them? They hate magic." I ask, my anger has cooled to some degree but I still don't like this man.

Dumbledore sighs once more, looking very tired.

"The wards required that you live with someone of your mothers blood, her sister was the only one that fit." He explains. "I had no other choice than to leave you with her, for your own protection."

"That is a lie." I ground out, glaring at him hatefully for a moment before my mask is back in place.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asks, looking shocked.

"That is a lie and you know it." I repeat, ignoring McGonagall's stern glare or Snape's sneer. "The wards would have protected me no matter where I was housed, they only extended to the Dursley's after you messed around with them."

Dumbledore looks like he's struck dumb as he stares at me, a moment later he pulls himself together.

"I assure you Mr. Potter that I did no such thing." He begins.

"Liar." I mutter, interrupting once more. "How else do you explain the wards extending to Vernon? He wasn't of my mothers blood, yet he was still protected. Or how about the fact that the wards are still active and strong even after a year away from my relatives? That's why you couldn't find me before now isn't it? The wards stopped you from tracking me."

He doesn't have an explanation for that, he seems caught off guard by my knowledge and even the two with him appear stunned.

"Never mind that, what I want to know is how you managed to track me down." I say after a few seconds of silence.

Dumbledore seems to startle and only regains his bearings when McGonangall places a thick envelope on the table.

_'Ah, my Hogwarts letter.' _I realize, slapping my self mentally._ 'The enchantments on the Book of Names are powerful enough to find me through the wards, I should have considered that when I was skimming Hogwarts: A History.'_

The Book of Names is one of the few artifacts powerful enough to pierce through my blood wards, it is capable of finding anyone that meets the criteria programmed into the book no matter where they are located or what wards they are hiding beneath, I really should have considered it beforehand. While they can't actively control the book, as it's considered lost magic from the time of the founders, it would still provide them with my information when my Hogwarts letter is sent out.

Luckily, there is a way around it.

"Oh, my Hogwarts letter, thank you." I say, taking the letter and breaking the seal.

I grin inwardly as a pulse of magic is released from the envelope, informing the book that I've received my letter and that I no longer need to be tracked.

"Yes, your letter." Dumbledore says, sending McGonagall a sideways glance, he knows what just happened as well.

"Since you already have information on the magical world, I won't need to provide you with a muggleborn package." McGonagall says, ignoring Dumbledore's look. She seems angry at him, I wonder why. "If you are ready to leave, I can escort you to Diagon Alley today for your supplies and..."

I place the opened envelope on the table, not bothering to look at the papers within.

"There's no need for that professor." I say, interrupting her. "I won't be attending Hogwarts."

She seems to startle at that while Dumbledore's eyes narrow in thought. Snape on the other hand, seems to grin widely, not a pretty sight.

"Not attending?" She asks in a shocked tone. "Surely you want to learn magic, just like your mother and father. Hogwarts is the best school in magical Britain, your parents would have wanted you to attend."

I roll my eyes at her poor attempt at manipulation.

"First off, Hogwarts is the **only** magical school in Britain so you have nothing to compare it with." I reply evenly, knowing that most of the other magical schools in Britain were closed over the years as Hogwarts began to accept more and more students regardless of background. "Also, my parents are dead and thanks to you, all I've heard about them growing up is how they were lazy good for nothings, so frankly, I don't much care what they would have wanted."

She seems very angry at that last part, luckily a majority of it seems to be directed at Dumbledore.

"I take it you will be attending the Sakura Academy here in Japan then?" Dumbledore asks with a strange gleam in his eyes, I can already tell he's scheming something.

I snort and shake my head, the Sakura Academy might be better then Hogwarts but not by much. If I need a decent magical education then I would head for Madam Maples in Canada or the Salem Institute in the United States, both offer a more diverse course than Hogwarts.

"I don't plan to attend any magical schools, I've already learned all I need about magic, my time is better spent acquiring other skills."

None of them look convinced.

"Indeed?" Dumbledore asks. "I take it that you acquired some knowledge from your guardian then?"

I roll my eyes again at the manipulation attempt.

"I already told you Dumbledore, I don't have a guardian, I'm self taught."

He nods, stroking his beard as his eyes begin twinkling once more.

"Surely there is more you can learn, magic is always changing and one can not learn it all on their own."

I snort at that.

"Magic may always be changing but your community is not, you haven't changed for over two hundred years so I think I'm fine." I reply curtly

That seems to piss off Snape who has been slowly getting angrier and angrier in his self-imposed exile, he'd been pleased when I denied my acceptance but it seems like my attitude has changed his opinion.

"Typical Potter arrogance," he growls, striding over to the table. "You think you know everything don't you? That you're better than us lowly mortals huh? Can't bother to bless us with your presence?"

I turn and look him straight in the eyes, his filled with anger and mine blank.

"Yes." I reply with a shrug.

He's mostly correct anyways, I do think myself better than them, with everything I know about their world it's hard not to think so.

It's at that moment that Snape struck.

"**Legilimens!**" he snarls, a wand appearing in his hand.

Dumbledore must have seen it coming because he has a moment to say-

"Severus don't..."

-before the world around me vanishes.

I'm actually happy when I feel Snape's Legilimency probe forcefully tearing its way into my mind, searching for my thoughts and memories, this is a perfect chance to test my defenses.

I couldn't keep the grin off my face.

* * *

The mental representation of Snape's assault appears within my void, standing roughly twenty meters from the metal sphere that protects my mind. The representation of a person's metal probe is usually a weapon of some sort, something they know to be powerful.

Snape's form is that of himself, much younger, crackling with power and wielding a wand.

"So, you know Occlumency Potter." He snarls into the void as he examined the sphere. "A metal orb, that's the best you can do? Pathetic."

With that, he began throwing spells.

Blasting curses, piercing hexes, and cutting curses fly from his wand, his speed is all based on his mind so it's no surprise when over a hundred spells are released in a single burst.

Snape grins as his spells strike my defenses, only for his grin to vanish as the spells sink into the liquid quicksilver.

My mental defenses are based on what I know of my small metal ball, it's good at amplifying and directing energy. For a magical assault like Snape's, it's the perfect defense. He doesn't even have time to react as all one hundred spells, collapsed into one massive wave of magical power, are shot back at him at twice the speed.

* * *

In the real world, only a second has passed from Snape's uttered spell before the man is sent flying back, crashing into the hotel wall and collapsing unconsciously.

"Severus!" Dumbledore shouts in a worried tone, jumping to his feet with his wand in hand.

"Severus!" McGonagall shouts, also jumping to her feet with her wand drawn, the difference however is the anger that tinges her tone as she glares at the crumpled form of her colleague.

"Minerva, not now." Dumbledore shouts, making his way over to Snape.

"Not now? Not Now? He tried to use Legilimency on a minor Albus, the Boy-Who-Lived no less!" She shouts back, waving a hand over where I sat.

"And Mr. Potter has proven that he can protect his own mind." Dumbledore replies, standing up after making sure Snape is well.

"That's not the point!" McGonagall counters, winding up for a tirade.

"While this is interesting enough, I would prefer it if the two of you left." I interrupt once more, eyes narrowed at the wand Dumbledore has pointed at me.

"I'm afraid we can't do that Mr. Potter, not after this." He said in a low tone, all pretense of a kindly grandfather gone. "You will be returning with us and we will find out who kidnapped you, what they have taught you and what they are planning."

I raise a single brow, my only sign of annoyance.

_'Salem, a little assistance please.'_ I say mentally, sending an image to my familiar.

I don't receive a reply but I hope he understands what's at risk, namely his food source.

"So, you're going to kidnap me in order to find out who kidnapped me?" I ask, stalling for time. "Despite the fact that I've told you, twice already, that I ran away on my own?"

"Albus, you can't mean to do this, the boy has done nothing wrong." McGonagall says, trying to talk some sense into the old man.

"I must Minerva, for the greater good." Dumbledore replies, flicking his wand. "**Stupe-**"

"**MRAWR!**"

-only to get bowled over by a house cat the size of a horse.

The old man flew to the ground from Salem's attack but with speed far beyond his years, Dumbledore rolls with the momentum and jumps back to his feet, his wand targeting the giant cat.

_'Seems like someone's been using strengthening rituals.'_ I muse, taking aim with my hand.

Wooosh!

A pulse of pure power flies from my hand and strikes a distracted Dumbledore before he can react, his attention having been focused on my familiar. My overpowered banisher sends Dumbledore flying, slamming him against the wall violently and he crumples to the floor much like Snape before him.

Throughout all this, McGonagall stares in shock, her eyes wide as they dart from my familiar to my open, wand free hand, then to Dumbledore's wand as it flies through the air and into my hand.

"H-how? That was wandless magic, that's impossible." She squeaks, her wand darting from me to the cat.

Oh dear, it looks like her colleagues' actions and my reaction have drained the last of her composure away, pity that.

"Apparently not, now I ask that you stop pointing that wand at my familiar and I, or we may have to hurt you." I say in a bland tone, waving Dumbledore's wand carelessly.

She aims her wand away but stays prepared.

"Familiar? You're far too young for a familiar." She replies, glancing over Salem's form, which causes her to startle as he shrinks down to a kitten.

"Apparently not." I repeat, amused at the look on her face. "Now then, when Dumbledore wakes up pass on a message for me please. Tell him that he shouldn't have underestimated me, I know he can cast his spells wordlessly, he should have done so rather than giving me the time to retaliate."

She nods, still looking somewhat out of sorts.

"Also, let him know that the next time we meet, I won't hold back. If he attacks me again, I will kill him." I add, sounding as dangerous as I can at the end. "Oh, and do thank him for the wand, it was a thoughtful birthday gift."

With that I stun her, striking faster than she can react in her current state.

As McGonagall drops to the ground, I take the time to look at the wand in my hand, it is quite a strange object.

For starters, when I banished him, Dumbledore dropped the wand. **Dropped**, not threw. Yet somehow it went flying across the room and into my hand, that shouldn't have happened as I hadn't summoned it. Secondly, the moment I touched the wand, I felt my power flow into it, sucked away by the wand itself. Moments later, that power was returned at ten times the amount. The wand, unlike most regular wands, has somehow amplified my power, amplified it far more than my little necklace has ever done.

With no one around to see, I pull out my necklace and hold it next to the strange wand, they both give off the same feeling. The wand is roughly ten inches long, with five little balls spaced out across its length. The thing that draws my attention however, are the tiny holes pressed into the balls, or at least the slivers of metal I can see through these holes, familiar looking metal.

_'Oh wow.'_ I whistle in awe.

This wand contains five of these metal balls, no wonder it's so powerful. Where did Dumbledore get it? Most wands use only organic materials, where did he get such a unique and powerful wand?

_'Oh well, it's mine now.'_ I chuckle, tucking it into my pocket. _'Finders keepers.'_

**'Oi! Brat. You owe me for saving your ass, now get me a box of those little cookies that I like.'**

_'Yeah, yeah. Will do.'_

Sigh, back to this now, maybe I should have gone to Hogwarts, then the house elves could deal with him.

* * *

**-General P.O.V-**

When the Hogwarts three woke twenty minutes later, it was to a completely empty hotel room, with no sign of Harry Potter.

Albus Dumbledore was angry.

Not only had he lost **The** Elder Wand but he had lost Harry Potter, again, he hadn't even discovered who had kidnapped and taught the boy. He couldn't even track the boy anymore since the Book of Names had received a confirmation, things were not going according to plan, not at all.

Severus Snape was angry.

He had lost against the spawn of James Potter in a mental battle. **Him, **one of the three most powerful Legilimens in Britain, had lost to a mere child. Albus was never going to let him forget this, curse those bloody Potters.

Minerva McGonagall was **Furious**.

First Severus had attacked the Boy-Who-Lived, an attack that could have mentally damaged the boy, then Albus had tried to kidnap the child against his will. When had her mentor and colleague changed so much, she wasn't going to let this go, they would both be hearing more from her.

It was three angry and defeated Hogwarts professors that trudged home that day.

* * *

Meanwhile Harry Potter was having a lovely time in his new hotel, taking a break before his next trip.

Salem the cat was having an even better time, peacefully munching away at his snack.


	5. Goa'uld

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Goa'uld**

When three days pass without any encounters of the magical kind, I decide that I've successfully escaped Dumbledore and his group. Since I don't have to worry about being tracked for now, I decide to head to my next location; Giza, Egypt.

Egypt is a nice, warm country, a good place to spend some time. It's also quite far from Japan and Britain, which is what I want right now.

I do have two other reasons for coming to Egypt though, other than avoiding the English wizarding community. First off, many of the Pyramids here contain some of the oldest glyphs and runes known to wizarding kind, as well as information on long forgotten rituals and spells. Many of the runes written within these pyramids are the original form of the runes now in use, studying them would help my knowledge of the art.

The second reason I'm here, is the wide open space of the desert. It's the perfect place to create, practice and master a few of my new techniques, many of which are quite destructive in nature but that's to be expected seeing as they're based on techniques used in Japanese manga, they're not exactly known for being subtle when it comes to such things. With no one around for miles, I can freely try my new technique ideas, something I can't do in more populated areas.

I'm looking forward to it.

* * *

**-Three Days Later-**

Happily stalking through a sealed off portion of the pyramid, I keep my eyes peeled for traps as I examine the lines of runes dotting the walls, there are quite a few of them. This section of the pyramid has been sealed away for many centuries, layers and layers of magic serving to keep it hidden from the muggle world.

As I turn the corner, I'm met with a bit of a surprise, there's a small group of Goblins ahead of me studying the walls, one of which that I actually recognize.

"Fishclaw?" I ask in surprise, staring at the familiar Goblin.

The Goblin in question turns to face me and his face lights up with recognition.

"Mr. Potter, what are you doing here?" Fishclaw asks, stepping away from his comrades and walking over.

"Learning from these ancient runes and glyphs, you?" I ask in reply.

"I was recently promoted to Head of the London Curse-Breaking department, this pyramid serves as a training ground for new curse-breakers to practice in." He answers, waving a hand at his small team of younger looking goblins. "Would you like to accompany us? You might pick up some useful knowledge."

I give him a grin in reply, Goblins being one of the few beings that I like enough to lower my mask around.

"Sure, I would love to." I reply happily. "Congratulations on the promotion by the way."

"Thank you." He says in reply before turning his attention back to his team as they work on the protections.

Watching the Goblins work is quite a treat, even though they're trainees, they seem to be quite experienced in the art. I watch as they tear down the first layer of curses and traps with relative ease, they're very skillful. While curse-breaking seems to be an interesting branch of magic, it's one that I have no use for so I haven't bothered to learn it yet.

Having run into my first set of ancient protections two days ago, I made sure to find away past them, it didn't take me all that long. Now, all I have to do when I encounter such dangerous curses and wards is pump extra magic into my blood ward and I'm able to walk right through, it drains a lot of power but it's highly efficient.

Besides, if I ever come across a curse or barrier that I need removed, I can just will it away and let my magic handle it, it might be cheating but I don't really care about playing fair.

* * *

After roughly four hours of trial and error, the final ward is torn down and the traps are all dismantled, allowing us to enter the final chamber of the pyramid. It's a small room with dozens of different runes carved into the walls, none of which are active anymore. There are several piles of dusty junk lying around the room, objects that have likely been here of hundreds of years and were probably searched through and discarded by tomb raiders over the years.

At the back of the room is the newest addition to this pyramid, a polished iron door.

"Where does the door lead?" I ask Fishclaw, before he can wander over to his Goblin team.

He glances at the door and grins, or frowns, I still cant tell.

"It leads to the tunnels, which leads to Gringotts, Giza branch." he answers, pointing to a series of runes above the door that I hadn't noticed. "Once we've erected a new layer of protections for the next batch of trainees, it will be our only exit from this room."

I nod and continue gazing around the room, allowing him to return to his duties, supervising a bunch of trainees as they erect new traps and protections.

As I'm gazing around the small room, my attention is drawn to a small jar atop one of the junk piles. It's a small, ancient looking, ceramic jar covered in dirt and grime. At first glance, there's nothing of interest about this jar but there's something about it that calls to me, a feeling that I'm very familiar with. The jar in question gives off the same feeling that I've come to associate with my necklace and stolen wand, inside that jar is an object made of the same metal substance.

Drawing my new wand, mostly for show since I have yet to show off my full wandless abilities to the Goblins, I check the jar for traps, curses or wards. It comes back clean so I silently summon the jar to my hand, holding it up when the Goblins look over.

"Anyone mind if I take this?" I ask, holding it so they can better see it.

The Goblins all share a look, and some muttered comments in their native tongue, before shaking their heads and returning to their work. I grin to myself, glad that I don't have to steal from my only allies, and tuck the jar into my pouch for perusal at a later time. Seeing nothing else of interest, I make my way to the iron door, standing by the exit and watching the Goblins work.

A few minutes pass before they're finished, the runes on the walls lighting up with power as they're reactivated. With their work completed, the Goblins begin leaving, shuffling past me on their way out. A few give me a respectful nod in acknowledgement as they know my name well, having provided them with such a fine delicacy as Nundu meat.

"It seems that this has been quite a waste of time, four hours is far too long for such a simple task." Fishclaw grumbles, stopping beside me.

I smile and pat his shoulder.

"They'll do better next time, the practice is good for them." I reply, trying to cheer him up. I think it works since his frown looks less pronounced, I still haven't learned how to read these guys, their emotional faces are harder to read than my emotionless masks.

"Indeed, I hope the experience was very knowledgeable for you as well Mr. Potter." Fishclaw replies, walking through the doorway.

I follow behind him, ignoring the sound of the door magically closing behind me.

"Oh yes, it was quite interesting to watch and I memorized some of those older runes to reference later." I reply, remembering the few runes in the pyramid that weren't mentioned in my books. "Thank you for letting me join by the way."

"It was no problem all, it was the least I could do." He replies, grinning broadly. "After all, it was my association with you and Supervisor Ranglow that earned me this promotion."

He must be really, really **pleased **with me if his expression is so blatantly obvious, I can actually tell that its a happy grin.

"Don't mention it." I reply, glad to have another Goblin that owes me one.

* * *

After a pit stop at my hotel room to both eat and feed Salem, I head off to my isolated spot in the desert for some practice. Placing some charms to both hide my location and protect from the heat and sun, I sit down on a conjured blanket and pull out the jar.

In the light of the sun, it's as grimy and old as I first thought, although I do notice that the original material seems to be white in color and the lid appears to be sealed with wax. With a thought, the wax melts away, allowing me to open the jar, I'm quite surprised with what I find inside. Stored within the jar is a large snake, coiled around many times to fit within the smaller jar. The strange thing however is that not only is the metal I'm sensing coming from the snake itself, but the snake is also alive.

Huh.

What to do? This is a hundred (or more) year old snake right here, yet it's still alive, although it appears to be sleeping. The only serpents known to live for so long are Basilisks and those are prone to growing to enormous sizes after that much time. That means that this is some sort of magical serpent but not one that I've ever seen before, and considering the fact that I've memorized entire tomes on magical creatures, that comes as a bit of a shock.

I'm also caught off guard by the feeling I receive from the snake, the same feeling as my (stolen) wand and necklace. Either it's eaten one of those metal balls or it's sleeping on one, I can't tell which. While I'm already powerful enough, I'm not going to pass up this chance at more power, that would be a dumb thing to do, especially considering the fact that this metal appears to be quite rare. I know for a fact that it's not a naturally occurring metal, otherwise the muggles would have already gotten their grubby hands on it.

I want the metal ball in this jar but is it inside or under the snake?

I'm not all that sure what to do with the snake either, so I do what comes to mind first.

I poke it.

Yes, yes, I know how stupid that is but honestly what do I have to fear? The worst it can do is bite me and I'm immune to all sorts of toxins so there's no chance of it actually killing me.

What I don't expect however, is for its eyes to snap open, glowing yellow pits meeting my emerald and gold gaze for an instant, before the creature strikes. The snake leaps at me from within the jar, moving far too fast for me to react. Rather than bite me however, it does something strange and unexpected, it dives into my mouth. My eyes are wide in shock and horror as I actually feel the creature slither into my throat, its sharpened beak carving through the back of my mouth and latching onto my spine. Strangely enough, this is a painless act and as far as I can tell, the wound is already healing itself.

That doesn't change the fact that this thing is inside of me, wrapped dangerously around my spine, and it takes all of my mental control not to panic as the strange creature touches my brain, both physically and mentally. I can feel it within my mindscape, striking against my mental defenses in an attempt to break through to my mind.

I can't allow that to happen, who knows what else this thing can do.

* * *

**"Why do you resist child, you can not win. Bow before your god and I shall show you mercy!"**

Within my mind the representation of the creature, a similar serpent but over eighty feet long, is assaulting my defenses. It's main method of attack involves slamming its body against the metal orb of my mind over and over again, causing the metal orb to shudder, before rearing back and attacking once more.

**"You can not win mortal, you are nothing before the might of a god."**

This happens a total of five times, to little effect, before my defenses retaliate. As the giant serpent rears back for another strike, hundreds of silvery tendrils are launched from the sphere, moving too fast for it to dodge, and begin restraining it. Wrapped within the metallic tendrils, the serpent begins to struggle, flailing about in an attempt to escape but the tendrils hold on tight.

**"What trickery is this? Desist at once mortal or I shall make you suffer!"**

Almost in slow motion, the ends of the tendrils that are still connected to my sphere begin to grow in size, forming large metal orbs. Soon, the large balls of liquid metal start moving along the tendrils, slowly making their way towards the flailing creature. The creature, seemingly sensing the danger it's in, strikes back in a different fashion, physically.

**"Very well! Suffer for your insolence!"**

In the real world, the creature begins to stimulate my nerve centers, causing me to feel immense pain like nothing I've ever felt before. This however, lasts all of one millisecond before I shut down my pain receptors, a simple task considering that I'm already deep within my mind, fighting against the invading creature.

**"How is this possible! No mere human can resist a God! Filthy creature, you are not one of the Tau'ri!"**

With its second attack rendered a failure, the serpent returns to its attempts to escape my mental assault, it's far too late however. By this time, the balls have reached it and they begin spreading out across its form, coating it in a thin film of metal.

**"No! No! Release me at one! Obey your God!"**

Normally, I'd have released him already, my strategy involves first defending my mind, then attacking fast and pushing the invader out. This creature however, is not only inside of my mind but inside of my body as well, there's no way I'm letting it go. So, I choose to absorb it instead, I'll trap it within my mind and drain everything I can from it. After all, I am quite interested in just what exactly it is, it's most definitely not a regular snake that's for sure and believing it's claims as a god is just plain laughable.

**"No! Stop this! Stop this at once!"**

By this point, only the creature's head remains uncovered, the rest of its body is trapped within liquid metal. It's at this point that it attempts another strike, its last resort.

**"Die filth! Feel the wrath of your God!"**

The strangest feeling passes over me as I feel the creature inject some sort of toxin into my system, this is its final resort? Killing me and escaping once it has the chance? I almost laugh as the ritual magic within me surges forward, hunting down and destroying the toxin with ease, completely wiping it from my system.

So much for that plan.

**"What!? Impossible! This is impossible! I am a God! You can't do this! No! No! Noooooo!"**

The look of shock on its face is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, too bad it gets swallowed up before it can hear my laughter. Just like that I've won, the serpent is trapped and all that's left is to drain it's memories and destroy it's consciousness.

That seems simple enough.

Tendrils of golden power erupt from within the metal sphere of my mind and wrap around the metal serpent, tightly constricting around it. Moments later, the giant serpent explodes into thousands of small shards, all of which are drawn towards my sphere and absorbed into my mind. With its task completed, the golden light of my magic retreats into the sphere, leaving my mindscape clear of all sign of intrusion.

**'Finally! I thought he would never shut up.' **Salem's deep tones echo from the representation of our link, a cat shaped indent on the surface of the sphere.

_'Same here.'_ I reply, feeling my eye twitch as I realize that my familiar has been here all along. _'Thanks for the help by the way.'_

My tone is heavy with sarcasm and annoyance, yet he still replies cheerily.

**'You're welcome.'**

_'Gah! Just leave me alone so I can absorb these memories in peace.'_

**'Fine but bring me something tasty to eat when you're done.'**

I'm starting to hate that cat.

* * *

As it turns out, I greatly underestimated the mind of this strange creature. Despite it's intelligence, I had expected nothing more than a flow of primal memories, feelings and thoughts. I had brushed off its claims of godhood as nothing more than mere words used to lower the defense of its weak minded hosts and prey, which is why I'm incredibly surprised by the memories I receive from its mind.

Believe it or not, the creature I'd just absorbed was not any type of magical serpent, it's actually an alien parasite, a member of a race known as the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld, as it turns out, are parasitic creatures that require human hosts in order to survive outside their natural environment. They also happen to be galactic scale, meglomaniacal warlords.

The Goa'uld, using their more advanced technology and superior intelligence, have managed to enslave billions of people on thousands of worlds, styling themselves as gods and using their subjects as slave labor in their quest for universal domination.

The strangest thing about this situation and the Goa'uld however, is that all of this is occurring in an entirely different universe.

Over nine centuries ago, this particular Goa'uld conquered a race of people known as the Camil, a race of xeno-archaeologists and scholars. It was on that little planet that it discovered a device known as a Quantum Mirror, a machine created by an ancient race that serves as a gateway to alternate realities.

Thinking like most its kind do, this Goa'uld made a plan to travel to one such reality with a small strike force and collect slaves to increase its own empire, allowing it to overthrow the other Goa'uld with its superior numbers. It was a well thought out plan as well, as even a small task force would be able to capture and ferry hundreds of slaves at a time and should anyone take note, they could simply blame one of the Goa'uld that already existed in that particular reality.

The problem however, came when it used the mirror itself.

Having no idea of the coordinates of realities other than its own, which was etched onto the top section of the mirror, it had no choice but to choose at random. So with one fully stocked scouting vessel, the Goa'uld set out through the Quantum Mirror, heading out on a quick and simple scouting mission. Normally, only its enslaved warriors would be sent on such a simple scouting mission but this task was far too important to leave to another so the Goa'uld had joined them.

Unfortunately, out of the countless realities in existence, it chose one that was completely saturated with magic, the antithesis to technology.

Connecting the dots with my own memories and knowledge, I'm able to make an educated guess on what happened next. While muggle technology short-circuits in highly magical areas, it still works in this reality, simply because the base materials are already saturated in the free floating magic of the planet.

The Goa'uld however, coming from a reality that is completely void of magic, soon found it's ships systems shutting down from the effects of the ambient magic. Parts of its ship, made from the same material as my metal ball, Naquadah as it's called, were able to absorb, adapt to and amplify the magic in the air. Other parts of the ship however, being made of less adaptable materials, were unable to handle it.

The ships computers overloaded and forced it and its men to crash land.

Luckily, the planet they crash landed on was the alternate version of Tau'ri, the main human world in the Goa'ulds' reality, it was also the location of this realities Quantum Mirror.

Unfortunately for the Goa'uld, it soon discovered that it was trapped in this reality, unable to return to its home universe or even find transport off the planet. The Quantum Mirror of this reality is a thing of magic, requiring both magic and the proper knowledge to activate it, the Goa'uld had no magic of its own. Given time to explore the world and learn, it might have come across a suitable host, one that could wield magic and activate the mirror.

It was unfortunate then, that the crash landing of the vessel attracted plenty of unwanted attention.

It wasn't long until it and its remaining soldiers, its most loyal warriors, found themselves under attack by the inhabitants of the planet. They had expected an easy win, seeing as the forces they faced were only twenty strong and none had any technology whatsoever, they were wrong. It didn't take long for a group of Egyptian wizards, under the command of the reigning Dark Lord of the time, to wipe out the soldiers and critically wound the Goa'uld's host.

Leaving the host for dead, the Dark wizards raided the remains of the scouting vessel and fled, taking everything of value that wasn't bolted down.

As it's host lay dying, with no viable hosts in the area and its vessel stripped of all valuable materials by the raiders, the Goa'uld had no option but to enter a nearby stasis jar, resting and waiting until a new host could come along. Unfortunately for the serpent, similar looking jars were usually used to store the organs of the dead in ancient Egypt, so not many were willing to open it or desecrate the dead, this led to a very long hibernation for the Goa'uld.

Years passed, the remains of the vessel eventually being stripped apart by looters and the jar was found, passing through many hands until it eventually ended up inside the small pyramid where I had found it. Throughout all this, the Goa'uld slept, hibernating and waiting for it's opportunity.

A hibernation that lasted well over nine centuries, until I opened the jar and awakened the creature.

* * *

**-General P.O.V-**

Once the basic knowledge and recent history was absorbed, Harry found himself forced to sit back and watch in horror as countless scenes of rape, torture, and murder, the legacy of the Goa'uld race, was directly inserted into his mind. Thousands of years of the Goa'uld's genetic memory flowed into his mind, not only the memory of the Goa'uld he had just absorbed but also that of the thousands that came before it. There were far too many memories to block, even his Occlumency skills couldn't help him here, he could only handle a few years worth of memories at one time.

In a way, the Goa'uld had won.

While he might have destroyed its consciousness and shredded its mind, he had also made a grave error by absorbing its memories. Despite his power and skill, Harry was still just an eleven year old boy, meaning that he only had eleven years worth of memories. The Goa'uld on the other hand, had well over thirty thousand years of memories on it's own, not to mention the memories belonging to its ancestors.

All this and more had just been absorbed by one little boy.

It should come as no surprise that the older memories were able to easily shunt Harry's aside and claim dominance, he literally stood no chance. While the Goa'uld was defeated, it had cost Harry his sense of self. While he was still Harry Potter: Human Wizard, he was also Harry Potter: Goa'uld Parasite.

Unfortunately, he was now more Goa'uld than he was human.

**(A.N: Since I know that this bothered a lot of readers last time this story was up, I want to mention that Harry will eventually get back to normal, the Goa'uld mentality is only temporary.)**

* * *

**-Harry's P.O.V-**

I wake several hours later with a groan, the cold wind of the desert stinging my skin with its intensity. My eyes flash gold as I sit up, the collection of foreign memories clear in my mind. Despite knowing otherwise, I feel like I've lived all thirty thousand years as a Goa'uld, the eleven years as Harry Potter are simply the newest memories in my long existence.

**'Oi! Brat.'** Salem's voice echoes through my mind, causing my head to ache.** 'You zoned out for quite a while there, are you okay?'**

Normally, such an insult would call for the torture and death of the offender, Salem is quite lucky that he's my familiar, an extension of my being, otherwise I would have flayed him alive without hesitation.

_'Indeed Salem, I am fine.' _I reply, resisting the urge to strike at him through the link._ 'Just give me a moment.'_

A snort is my only reply, followed by a disconnection of the mind link. Now free to think, I take inventory of my being, starting with my mind.

My mental defenses are still in place, in fact they are far stronger than ever before, reinforced by my countless experiences as a Goa'uld. I also find that I can now split my mind into two parts, one part controlling my human body and magic while the other part controls the symbiote within me. It's quite a strange experience, something that has never happened to any Goa'uld before.

Somehow, I'm able to exist as both the host and the symbiote, it's an interesting feeling.

My body itself is far better than ever before, the symbiote within me has provided me with a powerful healing factor, one that can heal all but the most fatal of wounds given enough time, it not immortality but it's a good start. The symbiote has also increased my physical capabilities, making me stronger and faster than the average human and coupled with my magically enhanced bones, I'm likely to be as strong as a troll and as fast as a unicorn. While the gap will be small, I'll be slightly stronger and faster than the average Goa'uld host.

The last change is my magic, which has also grown more powerful. When the Goa'uld symbiote entered my body, it automatically released small amounts of Naquadah directly into my bloodstream, something normally done to allow the host to properly use Goa'uld technology. While I may not have any Goa'uld tech to use, the material in my bloodstream serves to amplify the magic flowing through me, making me stronger than ever before.

I'm not sure what effect this will have on blood magic and rituals but my best guess is that their power will be increased, among other things. This also means that I no longer require my little necklace or wand, Naquadah flows through my blood and I have no need of little trinkets to control my power. I do plan to keep keep them however, as they still serve to boost and focus my magic when used.

All in all, everything has been greatly improved.

_'With access to this magic, I can now open the Quantum Mirror and return home, I wonder what has happened to my territories in my absence.'_ I ponder, tearing down my wards and flickering away.

* * *

_'Perhaps it would be best to stay in this reality and build a new empire.'_ I muse, stalking through the streets of Diagon Alley. _'Perhaps not, the inhabitants of this world are nowhere near advanced enough to build a proper spacecraft, it would be better to return home and reclaim my territory. Besides, the rules of combat will allow me to easily recoup my manpower instead of having to build up a power base on this backwater planet.'_

A dark grin spreads across my face as I imagine the look on the faces of the other Goa'uld when I reveal my magical powers and crush them beneath my heel, it promises to be a glorious image.

_'Yes, that is the better choice. With this power, I am beyond the others, I can become a true god while they continue relying on their technology.' _I chuckle at the thought, imagining my ascendancy as a true god._ 'Given time, I can amass enough territory and manpower to replace Ra as Supreme System Lord.'_

That seems like an entertaining plan, replacing Ra would make me to strongest of all Goa'uld, ruler of the other System Lords and minor Goa'uld. I'll need to build a mighty army and expand my territory first however, because magic or no magic, I don't think I can survive an orbital bombardment, which is Ra's usual method of dealing with usurpers.

Besides, I've been gone for a long time, I will need to reclaim my old territory and expand if I want the others to bow down before me. Without the territory and numbers to overpower their own forces, they would keep fighting and sending their men at me, even then they might still fight before I can crush them.

"How can I assist you today Mr. Potter," a goblin asks, drawing me from my thoughts.

I look up with a frown, upset at the interruption from such a lowly creature but a deep breath allows me to calm myself. It wouldn't do to make enemies of the Goblin Nation at this time, filthy vermin they may be but they are still powerful allies to have on my side.

On that note, I also make a note to meditate later tonight and every night following, my one month with the monks is no match for over thirty thousand years of Goa'uld emotions and I find myself growing angry at the littlest provocation. It will take some time to recover my state of inner peace and regain my skill at hiding my emotions, I cant have them flying out of control at the wrong time.

At least we Goa'uld are master manipulators, so I'm well experienced at manipulating emotions, I'm just not very good at hiding them.

Pulling out a scrap of paper, I scribble a short message on it and hand it to the Goblin.

"I require a team to excavate and clear this location, they will be searching for ruins that have been buried and hidden for roughly a thousand years." I reply, waving the note impatiently.

The Goblin raises a brow in question and takes the note.

"Such an excavation will cost quite a hefty price." He comments after a moment.

"I don't care how much it costs, just have the location excavated." I reply, snorting in annoyance.

Money isn't much of an issue for me right now, with the sale of my Nundu parts over the last few months, I have well over two million galleons in my vault.

"Very well, it will be done." he replies, his eyes gleaming greedily.

Filthy creature.

"Oh and Goblin." I whisper conspiratorially, causing him to lean forward to hear me. "It would be best if the team sent was... expendable."

He seems to catch my drift and nods in understanding.

"Very well, one of our human teams will begin work on the excavation by tomorrow morning, can I assist you with anything else?" He asks.

"No, that is all." I answer, spinning on my heel and walking away.

* * *

As I exit the bank, striding confidently through the doors and down the marble steps, I'm caught off guard as a bolt of red light slams into my side, causing me to stumble. The spell however, has no effect as it washes off my Nundu hide coat, that doesn't change the fact that someone actually has the audacity to attack me.

With a snarl, I turn to the source of the attack, one Severus Snape, who is staring at me with wide eyes, surprised that his sneak attack has failed.

"Snape." I grind out, my tone cold and murderous.

After the day I've had, I'm just looking for someone to take my anger out on, Salem is off limits as are the Goblins, Snape however...

"Potter," he replies, wiping away his shocked expression. "You must be very arrogant or very foolish to stroll through Diagon Alley after what you did."

Ah, I forgot my disguise, no wonder people were shooting me looks the entire way here. No matter now, I have no reason to hide, Harry Potter may have abhorred drawing attention but the Goa'uld in me revels in it.

"You must be very stupid to attack me once again, in public no less." I growl, drawing my (stolen) wand, I don't really need it but I don't want people knowing about my wandless abilities just yet.

Snape smirks smugly but I can see the grip on his wand tightening, he's learned not to underestimate me. By this time, our little confrontation has drawn an audience, most wanting to know why a Hogwarts professor is attacking the Boy-Who-Lived. This is both good and bad, on the one hand I can't kill or maim Snape, that will be quite bad for my PR and while most Goa'uld choose to rule through fear and terror, I'm not trying to claim this world, not yet anyways.

On the other hand, I can use this to discredit Snape, maybe even get him arrested, wouldn't that just be a treat?

Oh! Snape is talking, I should probably pay attention and stop scheming.

"-as such, Hogwarts professors are allowed to use any means necessary to return wayward students to school grounds." Snape finishes smugly. "No matter whether said student believes them self to be above the rules or not."

Ah, he's making it seem like I'm just an unruly student out on a lark, trying to get the crowd on his side, bravo Snape.

However, two can play at this game.

"Except _Severus," _I sneer the name hatefully, eyes narrowing in anger. "I am not a Hogwarts student, if you try hard enough, I'm sure you'll remember my refusal to attend. It was roughly before you assaulted me and the headmaster attempted to kidnap me."

Let's see how he deals with that.

"Arrogant brat." He snarls, sparks shooting from the tip of his wand. "Just like your father, thinking you're above the rules and now spreading your filthy lies."

The clear denial approach, that seems to convince a few people but most of them clearly dislike Snape, its only Dumbledores involvement that's keeping him bolstered.

I have to thank him for the comment about my father though, what a great setup.

"I ask that you please refrain from insulting my father, he was a hero who died protecting his family." I reply, playing the sympathy card.

It seems to work as most of the audience has turned against Snape. Still, they just stand around gossiping, no one trying to assist in any way, useless pissants.

"Besides Severus, which one of us just attacked a minor from behind?" I ask with a raised brow. "You obviously believe **yourself** to be above the law, such arrogance."

That seems to be the last straw him, his nostrils flare in anger and his wand begins moving. He's quite fast, for a human, but I'm much faster.

As Snape launches his first spell, a sickly orange hex, I'm already dodging and retaliating. He dodges the wave of golden energy I send his way and launches a slew of spells, none of which are mild in nature. I duck under what looks like a Bone-Breaker based on it's appearance, sidestep an Eye-Gouger and hop over a Knee-Reversal hex.

With my enhanced speed, it's an easy task to avoid every one of his spells but I do tone it down to average levels for the audience, just in case. Another Bone-Breaker whizzes by my head, blowing my hair up with its speed, Snape's aiming to hurt, wonderful.

Dumbledore must have told him not to underestimate me so he's giving it his best, it also helps that he seems to hate both my father and I, this is far too easy.

"Move, move!"

"Look out!"

"Ah!"

**Boom!**

"Hey! Watch it!"

Oh, that's another strike for him, a few of his curses have come dangerously close to striking members of the audience, that's not winning him any support.

I reply with another round of weak, slow bursts of magic, nothing too dangerous. As far as the audience, my witnesses, will recall, I'm only using weak, low level spells while Snape is aiming to seriously hurt me. They'll also remember my skill level as being mildly higher than that of my age mates, as expected from the Boy-Who-Lived. I may not be aiming to rule this world but it wont hurt to impress, you never know when good propaganda might be needed.

Having positioned myself so my back is to the audience, I give Snape a snide grin and deliberately step into the path of a Bone-Breaker, avoiding a borderline dark, Skin-Flaying curse at the same time. The spell hits and I make sure to scream extra loudly as my shoulder breaks, blood seeping down my arm as the bones jut out of my back.

That was a tricky bit of work right there, faking my own injury like that.

Snape's spell was far too weak to affect me through my coat, so I had to break the bone myself, just a simple matter of asking my magic to replicate the effects of a proper Bone-Breaker. Everyone can see how badly I'm injured but only Snape can see the triumphant glimmer in my eyes, his eyes widen as he realizes what has just happened but he only has time to throw up a weak shield before scores of spells fly from the audience.

It's about damn time, it's pathetic how these worms actually wait until I'm wounded to step in, useless filth the lot of them. My negative thoughts are pushed away when I hear Snape shriek in pain as his shield fails and he's sent flying back, rocketing towards the thick walls of the bank. He slams against the wall and crumples to the ground, unconscious, _Deja Vu_ anyone?

The worms seem to have actually hurt him badly, as he's bleeding from a cut above his eye, spewing out slugs and his legs seem to be bent the in the wrong direction.

Ah, what a joyful day.

At this time, there are a series of loud cracks and red robed figures begin making their way through the crowd, rounding up as many people as they can, these must be the vaunted Aurors I've heard so much about. I decide that now is a good time to leave, as I want to be nowhere near the ministry or Dumbledore, and begin making my way towards the bank's doors, playing my injury for all its worth.

However, when a hand clamps down hard on my injured shoulder, I can't help but release an actual wince in pain. I should have shut down my pain receptors, they're only on because the painful grimaces helped to make my act more believable.

"I'll need you to come to the ministry with me Mr. Potter, you have some explaining to do." A voice growls from behind me.

I turn around and seeing that it's one of the red robed figures, I punch him in the balls, hard. His squeals of pain draw attention from the mob, his coworkers reaching for their wands.

I make sure to place an appropriately angry look on my face as I prepare myself for yet another bit of manipulation.

"Not only do I get attacked for the second time in four days, by the same person no less, but you have to audacity to try and arrest me after aggravating my wounds?" I growl, speaking up just loud enough for the worms to hear, they being gossiping once more.

He glares at me from the ground, his eyes filled with hate and pain, that doesn't seem quite right.

Ah, that explains it.

There on his arm, I can see a spot of faded ink, most of it hidden by his robes. One of those escaped Death Eaters I've heard so much about, this is why governments are such failures, I would have just executed the lot of them.

"It's bad enough that I have to deal with Snape, but now I have Death Eater Aurors trying to hurt me too?" I sneer, the look on his face and gasps from the audience almost cause me to break character, it's just that funny. "It's because of people like you and Snape that I'm not attending Hogwarts, in fact after this fiasco, I don't think I'll ever set foot in Britain again!"

With that I turn and storm off, entering the now empty bank as most of the clients have moved outside to check out the commotion. The Goblins are kind enough to close and seal the doors behind me and a smug looking Ranglow is waiting for me in the center of the main hall.

"As entertaining as ever Mr. Potter." Ranglow greets with a slight nod. "Do you require medical assistance?"

Another Goblin steps forward at that, a healer I presume.

I shake my head and swing my arm around in its socket, its already been healed by my symbiote and magic.

"That won't be necessary Ranglow, do you have a back door around here somewhere?" I ask, stopping a few feet from him.

He gives me a raised brow in surprise but doesn't question it, after a moment of silence he nods in reply to my request.

"Right this way." He comments, striding off.

While I can just flicker away, it's probably not a good idea to let the Goblins know that I can pass through their protections and charms. Allies or not, they're still a bank and will likely act on that information.

Passing through the bank, I notice a few Goblins scurrying about busily, more so than usual. Some others are scratching runes into the walls, reinforcing their current layers of protection.

Ranglow seems to sense my curiosity as he begins speaking unasked.

"We suffered a break in a few days ago, on your birthday to be exact." He comments, passing through the halls. "Luckily for our reputation, nothing was stolen although one of the vault doors was completely destroyed, the vault in question had been emptied earlier that day. Most are upset that the perpetrator managed to escape, so we are upgrading the protections in order to prevent another such occurrence."

I whistle in appreciation at that, the fact that someone managed to make it through the protections and escape is quite impressive. Then again, I can do the same so there's a high chance that they simply bypassed the wards the same way I could, it's not too far a stretch.

"Any idea what they were after?" I ask curiously, if the vault was emptied the same day then that means that it wasn't stocked with gold but something far more valuable.

"No, we were not informed of what was within the vault, just that it was stored there by _Albus Dumbledore._" he answers, the name is spoken hatefully and I can't help but chuckle at that, it's good to see that there are others that hate the old man as much as I do. "Of course, this goes against Gringotts policy as we require information on all items stored within the bank but the Chief Warlock felt it was 'for the best' if we didn't know the contents of the vault."

Despite his assurances the last time we met, Dumbledore just tickled me the wrong way, he may have had the best intentions with his actions but they sure as hell weren't for my benefit.

The old man has plans, plans involving me, there's no way I'm going to cooperate.

"And of course what Dumbledore wants, he gets, no surprise there." I reply with a grin. "The old mans a bit of a prick."

Ranglow actually grins, a noticeable one at that.

"Indeed."

We soon reach the back door and Ranglow let's me out with a muttered farewell, striding away as the door shuts in my face. Shortly after the door is closed, I flicker home, pleased with the way the day ended.

**'Did you bring me a snack?'**

I sigh in annoyance, I think I may have liked it better when he couldn't talk.

_'Come along then, I'll take you somewhere nice for dinner.' _I sigh, picking him up._ 'Maybe Africa again and you can hunt down some Gazelle.'_

He's quick to accept and we flicker away, he may annoy me sometimes but he's still my familiar, it won't hurt to spoil him from time to time.

* * *

Much to my delight, the Goblins are quick to deliver on their promise. By noon the very next day, a small excavation team is sent to the dig site, prepared and willing to excavate the 'ruins' beneath the sand.

They team in question is comprised of seven individuals, all of whom are newly graduated from their various schools. The first of the team is a trio of males, each with some skill in excavation and preservation spells. Next is a single male curse-breaker, a precaution in case of curses and protections on the dig site. After that is a female linguist, one versed in ancient languages and writings. Lastly are a pair of duelists, a male and female duo, to serve as bodyguards.

While I'm know that they introduced themselves to me when we first met, I barely bothered to remember their names. This is a standard Gringotts excavation team, except that the roles are usually a mix of human and Goblin and they're never made up of brand new graduates. As far as the team knows, I'm just too poor to afford a more experienced team, they have no idea that the Goblins have sold me their lives for two hundred thousand galleons.

While the team is working hard, hoping to impress on their first real excavation, I'm seated comfortably within my climate controlled wizarding tent, stroking Salem with one hand while reading with the other. I see no need to assist with the excavation, after all, I am paying for their services and it is far beneath one such as I to do such plebeian work.

Instead, I spend my time in my extravagant tent, the only tent in this camp that no one else is allowed to enter.

While I used to enjoy a humble lifestyle, getting by on the bare necessities as I've been doing all my life, I don't care for it anymore, the Goa'uld aren't exactly known for their humble lifestyles. We Goa'uld prefer to live lavish lifestyles, wearing hundreds of pieces of extravagant jewelry, decorating our ships with gold and other precious metals, as well as having slaves to serve our every need, just to name a few.

It is for this reason that when the time came to purchase a camping tent, something I require if I want to keep a close eye on my team, I went all out on my selection. The tent I chose is decked out with all the best money could by, it's pretty much a manor inside of a cloth pavilion. The entire place is carved from white marble, with hundreds of expensive decorations such as silver chandeliers, gold banisters, and copies of famous painting. I won't even go into detail on the number of rooms it contains, none of which I have much need for but still requested.

It's an interesting object, one that cost me close to half my vault and I plan to make great use of it, maybe I can find a way to remove the manor from within the tent and build an actual home around it, it's worth a shot.

Until then, I'll enjoy myself in this wonderful place until the excavation is complete.

* * *

**-One Week Later-**

Shouts from the dig site draw me from my book, after a full week of digging the team seems to have found something. I place Salem on my shoulder and head for the front door, his claws are digging into my skin but I pay It no mind, it'll heal. With my current disguise in place, I quickly exit my tent, filled with excitement at what I just might find.

Sure enough, I can see that my hired team has discovered the Quantum Mirror, buried in a hole roughly a hundred meters deep. They've already begun levitating the mirror, and the rune covered platform it's attached to, out of the pit. The mirror is an oddly shaped, stone gateway, a mix between an oval and a pentagon, with a ten by ten square of runes carved into the stone on the left side. A large metallic mirror is inserted in the the center of the gateway, yet it reflects nothing. Despite its small size, roughly seven feel tall and three wide, the mirror is able to easily fit objects a million times its size, it's a strange and inexplicable artifact even in the Goa'ulds home reality.

With my assistance, the mirror is soon placed on solid ground and the excavation wizards begin climbing out of the pit. The linguist is already beside the mirror, a note book and quill in had, trying to read the engravings on it's surface. The words are written in the language of the ancients, some of which I can translate, others I'll require a computer for.

Luckily, this is a phrase that I already know, it reads: Quantum Mirror, followed by a series of symbols which are the address of this reality. The ancients of this reality must have had quite an influence on the Tau'ri, because the girl is able to recognize some of the language.

"I think it says '_The Mirror of Time_', the dialect is a bit strange." She explains with a pout. With silvery, blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she's quite a beauty, especially when she pouts.

"A mirror?" the female duelist asks, making her way over. "Like Erised? That's quite a find."

The linguist nods and turns to me.

"This is a really big discovery sir, it must be thousands of years old. This could date back all the way to the founders, maybe even Merlin himself." Her eyes are glazed and her expression gleeful.

The curse-breaker has made his way over as well, the second duelist behind him.

"This will definitely end up in one of the great museums, we'll be so famous for finding it." He says cheerfully with a thick Scottish accent.

I nod sagely, stepping closer to the mirror and they respectfully part to allow me access. My current disguise is that of an eighty year old man, with grey hair and milky green eyes. It's very frail looking and unassuming, so it comes as quite a shock to them when my hand flies out and grabs the linguist by the throat, her eyes are still glazed and her expression gleeful when I snap her neck like a twig.

The other three are stunned with shock by this but the two duelists recover quickly, not quick enough as my hands fly out and my magic spikes.

Following my will, the sand around them surges upwards, covering the two duelists in a thick cocoon, this of course is another technique stolen from one of my manga. Another force of will activates the next part of the technique, the two are unable to even scream as the sand contracts, reducing them to a messy pulp.

"What the fuck are you doing!" The curse-breaker shouts, he's taken the time to draw his wand and aim but his mistake is not attacking when he had the chance.

A flick of my finger sends a wave of sand towards him, which he easily knocks aside with a gust of conjured wind, however the large cat behind the sand isn't as easy to brush aside. The horse-sized cat manages to bowl the kid over and land on his chest, hard. The curse-breaker screams shrilly as his chest caves in, thankfully his shrill screams end when Salem rips his throat out; good thing about cats, they're amoral predators so Salem doesn't even care to ask why I'm killing these people, he just backs me up as his master.

"Oi! What's going on up there?" A voice calls from the pit, idiotic children.

Salem seems to agree as he snorts and swats the curse-breakers corpse towards the hole, there's some shouting and cursing as the excavators realize 'what's going on' up here. I flick my finger to the side and another wave of sand rises up, carrying the one corpse and two meaty pulps with it into the hole. Walking over, I look down into the pit and grin darkly at the faces looking up at me, eyes wide with fear and shock.

Two of the excavators are halfway up their ladders, hanging on for dear life, while the third seems to have fallen off thanks to my sand wave as he is lying amidst the corpses, a few bones look broken but he's unconscious so I guess it doesn't really matter.

"I thank you for your time gentlemen." I call to the two males, grinning at their fearful expressions. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I have to terminate our contract."

"Y-you can't do this." One stutters out, growing bold as he continues. "The Goblins won't let you get away with this!"

I laugh darkly and raise my hand, causing a ball of black fire to flicker into existence in my palm, this particular technique is a variation of my own, a mixture of Fiendfyre and the Amaterasu technique from the Naruto manga. The result is an extremely hot and semi-sentient flame that can burn indefinitely unless told otherwise by the user, it also requires far more power to extinguish than a simple Fiendfyre curse, meaning that only the most powerful of water spells stand a chance against it; I call it Darkfyre, not the most original of names but what do I care.

"Of course they will." I reply with a chuckle, the ball of fire in my hand morphing into a serpentine form, one similar to that of a Goa'uld symbiote. "Why else would they send me a team of inexperienced graduates?"

Their eyes widen in shock and my grin widens.

"Ta ta." I grin, tipping my hand over. The Darkfyre serpent drops from my hand and descends into the pit, growing in size as it drops.

The screams of the two males are cut off as the powerful flames consume the corpses and surge upwards in search of more food, a massive serpent of black flames rising from within the depths of the pit. Seconds later, the flames die down, the serpent shrinking and reforming into a small ball of fire, which flies to my waiting hand. With a force of will and a closed fist, I extinguish the flame, hissing as its struggle to live burns my fingers.

Within the pit, there is nothing but sand and three ladders to show that there had ever been seven people there, not even their ashes survive the heat of the flames. The useful thing about sentient techniques, is that they only do what they're commanded, it was quite simple to order the flames to burn only the bodies in the pit, leaving everything else untouched.

Another force of my will causes the pit to refill, the surrounding sand rising at my bidding and flowing into the deep pit.

**'I'm gonna miss them, the blond one knew the best places to scratch and the black haired one always had the best treats.' **Salem sighs, sounding disappointed.

I snort and turn my attention to the mirror, its surface gleaming entrancingly.

_'Well, I'll have to make it up to you then.'_ I reply with a chuckle. _'Once we're through the mirror, I'll get you hundreds of slaves, their sole purpose being to wait on you hand and foot.'_

**'Sort of like you then?'**

I can almost feel a facial tic forming.


	6. Through the Looking Glass

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**A/N: Want to address minor plot hole, basically 'how did the Goa'uld symbiote put the top of the stasis jar on when he was inside it'. I actually have no answer for that, sorry guys and gals, it slipped right past me so please ignore it.**

**Secondly, I'll be assuming that you all have some basic knowledge of the SG universe so I'll be using words native to that universe. (I.E: Chappa'ai = Stargate and Ha'tak = Goa'uld mothership.)**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Through the Looking Glass.**

"You want me to do **what**?" A shocked looking Ranglow asks, staring at me with wide eyes.

I sigh and take a deep breath, trying not to laugh at the look on his face or sneer at his stupidity.

"I plan to be away for a long time, as such I require someone to manage my finances, someone other than a member of the High Council that I haven't even met." I explain slowly, for the second time. "Despite it's massive growth these last few months, I've managed to squander away much of my fortune."

Which is quite true seeing as I only have two hundred thousand galleons remaining in my family vault, a tenth of what I had last month.

"As such, I am declaring you regent of Houses Potter and Black, as well as manager of my accounts." I continue, smirking in satisfaction. "You will be able to invest my money as you please and fifteen percent of all profits will go to you."

He still seems a bit shocked so I continue on.

"Of course, we'll have to sign a standard regency contract but I'm sure you have one on hand." I continue. "You will, of course, be oath bound to consider my needs first and those of the Nation second."

After a few seconds of silence, he seems to catch up with my words and begins searching for the contract.

"T-this is unprecedented Mr. Potter, a Goblin becoming regent of not one but two Ancient and Noble houses." He stammers out, throwing documents aside in his search. "I am truly honored."

"Don't mention it Ranglow, it's only fitting I choose you for the position, you're one of the few I trust." I reply with a grin, lying straight through my teeth.

As regent of my houses, he will have all the rights I would gain when I come of age. Seats on the Wizengamot, a few noble titles, votes in the House of Lords and a seat on the Hogwarts board of directors. All in all, he'd just gained a huge increase in political clout, both in the Nation and the wizarding world.

None of this matters to me however, all I want is someone to make me money while I'm gone, a Goblin seems to be the best bet.

Ranglow eventually finds the contract and we sign in blood, binding us to its laws, although most of them restrict his actions more than mine. With our business concluded, I give the Goblin a farewell nod and exit the bank.

Time to do some shopping.

I'm leaving this reality soon and I need some supplies, mostly just books to study and food for Salem and I, just enough to tide us over until I reclaim my slaves and territories. Maybe I'll even pick up some magical supplies, I might need them where I'm going.

* * *

As I exit my last stop of the day, a wizarding grocery store down the street from the Leaky Cauldron, I'm met with quite an annoying sight.

"Dumbledore." I snarl, glaring at the old man in his long magenta and yellow robes, quite the eyesore.

Strangely enough, when considering our combined fame, no one seems to notice us, probably a Notice-Me-Not charm.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I am quite glad to see that my suspicions were correct." He says in his grandfatherly tone, smiling like a loon.

"How did you find me?" I snap back, very annoyed.

I took extra care to make sure my disguise was on today, I still wanted people to think that Snape and the Death Eater have caused me to leave Britain.

He smiles at me benignly, as if we're friends and he didn't try and kidnap me a couple weeks ago, an offense that I really must repay him for. I can't help but wonder why I let him live in the first place, normally such disrespect would have ended with the torture and death of the perpetrator, it seems a bit out of character for me, not very Goa'uld like at all.

"I simply had one of my people keep an eye out for any children meeting with Gringotts managers alone, you were the only one." He says with a chuckle, his eyes twinkling madly. "Quite an interesting talent, metamorphing that is, but wholly useless when your actions can be predicted."

He's a smart bastard, I'll give him that, I really should have killed him when I had the chance. Doesn't matter now, I'll be far out of his reach soon enough.

"What do you want then Dumbledore, here to try and kidnap me once more?" I growl, preparing to strike out at the first sign of danger.

Dumbledore is reputed to be quite powerful, not that I couldn't handle him, but he is powerful nonetheless. A fight with him would be both interesting and dangerous, I'm actually excited to give it a try.

"Nothing quite so devious Mr. Potter, I do apologize for the travesty that was out last meeting, I was not myself. It upset me to see one of my own harmed and I simply lost control of myself, I truly am sorry." He replies is a saddened tone. "I do hope we can start over again, we got off on the wrong foot as they say."

I snort at that and remain silent, whether he means it or is trying to manipulate me makes no difference, he is still a worthless Tau'ri in my eyes, albeit a reportedly powerful one but I find that hard to believe. The man is over a hundred years old and completely human, he has got be quite senile by now and I'm sure his 'great power' has waned over the years, it has been forty or so years since he defeated Grindlewald after all.

"On that note, I would like to give you this." He says pulling an object from thin air and handing it to me.

It appears to be some sort of fabric, but the silvery sheen and the way it flows through my fingers denotes its identity, an invisibility cloak. **(A.N: I've rewritten Ch. 3 so that the cloak is also missing from Harry's vault.)**

"That belonged to your father, he lent it to me to study shortly before his death." Dumbledore explains, his tone still saddened. "As you said to Severus, your father was a hero who died protecting his family, I felt it would be best to return this to you."

Ah, the cloak missing from my vault, how... convenient. Seems like he's going for bribery now or at least trying to worm his way into my trust, stupid old fool, as if that will work on me; his tricks may work on regular Tau'ri children but I am Goa'uld, I am far superior to those pathetic brats.

"Thank you." I say anyways, although my tone is far from thankful.

Dumbledore beams nonetheless, his eyes twinkling like mad. How does he do that by the way? Perhaps the same ritual I used? But the only creature with twinkling eyes is a... oh, oh! You crafty old bastard.

He's actually using Unicorn eyes for Mage Sight, why hadn't I considered that? The ability to see ambient magic would have been so very useful, being able to see wards and traps in the surrounding area. Oh yeah, because it would make my eyes twinkle like an idiot, I think I'm quite satisfied with my night vision.

"You know, if you were to attend Hogwarts, you could learn much more about your mother and father." Dumbledore continues, unaware of my wayward thoughts. "They were the favorites of many of the Professors and many would love to share some stories with you."

For a second I actually want to accept, Hogwarts would be so much fun, I could make some actual friends, learn magic from trusted and qualified educators and hear stories about my parents from people that knew them. It would be for the best if I was to attend, rather than continue my wild and unruly lifestyle. Those traitorous thoughts are found, trapped and destroyed as my Occlumency barriers snap into place, surrounding the foreign intrusion and tracking it to its source.

_'A compulsion charm on the cloak? Devious bastard.'_

_"_Nice try old man, but you underestimate the strength of my Occlumency barriers." I snort, tucking the cloak into my pouch before he decides to take it away. Hmm, maybe I should let him try, It could be one of those 'or die trying' moments.

Dumbledore continues smiling but I can see the annoyance in his twinkling eyes.

"Can't blame an old man for trying." He says in a cheerful tone.

"Yes, yes I can." I reply evenly. "Do you require anything else Dumbledore or will I have to fight my way past you as well?"

His eyes narrow slightly, his twinkle gone, but he keeps on smiling.

"You overestimate yourself Mr. Potter, I have learned much over the years and while you caught me off guard at our last encounter, do not think me weak."

I snort in disbelief, much to his further annoyance.

"Speaking of which, I would like to caution you against the wandless arts." He adds, his tone solemn. "Most that venture past the basics, soon find themselves losing control of their magic. I myself am only able to use the summoning and banishing charms wandlessly, I would hate for you to lose your magic when a wand will suffice."

Psh, as if I didn't know this already, I may not use a wand but the Naquadah in my blood suffices as a focus. I'm sure he would just love for me to get a wand, a nice one loaded with all the limiting and tracking charms the ministry employs, as if.

"Very well." I say simply.

His victorious smile is enough to make me decide to never agree with anything he says, ever.

"Speaking of wands, might there be a chance you would return mine? It belonged to a loved one and holds great sentimental value." He says, an expectant gleam in his eyes.

Yeah, like I'm buying that. It's a powerful wand, the Naquadah made sure of that, and he just didn't want it in another's hands.

"It's a pity that I disposed of it a few days ago then, threw it into a muggle trash bin near the Leaky Cauldron." I lie with an innocent smile "I was under the belief that it contained charms that allowed Severus to find me."

His eyes flash with anger and I know he wants to shout and throttle me, but he keeps that thrice damned smile on his face and continues on.

"Professor Snape." He corrects, giving me the feeling that he's forced to do so a lot, guess I not the only one that dislikes Snape, big surprise.

I snort.

"He's not my Professor so I shall address him as I please."

Dumbledore sighs and looks disappointed, very disappointed. Wow! I didn't know his expressions could get any more annoying but this one takes the cake, I wonder if he can combine his disappointed look and his twinkling eyes, wouldn't that just be a treat.

"Speaking of Professor Snape, I would request that you drop the charges against him. Severus was simply doing his job and you can't hold him accountable for that."

"Oh really? He was just doing his job when he broke every bone in my shoulder?" I sneer with as much malice as I can muster. "What about the Death Eater who felt the need to aggravate my wounds, was he just doing his job as well?"

Oh goody, he's even more disappointed in me.

"Auror Jenkins has been relieved of duty, pending an investigation." Dumbledore replies. "Severus will be receiving a trial, at which I will of course speak up in his defense, but that can all be avoided if you drop the charges."

Ah, so he's leaving the Death Eater with the blame and rescuing Snape. A good plan. I myself would have just left them both to fall and kept my name clear of it, he must need Snape or like the guy. It's probably the former, as I can't see anyone actually taking a liking to Severus Snape.

"I hope you can find it in your heart to show mercy, he could be sent to Azkaban if he is found guilty." Dumbledore continues. "It is a cruel and unforgiving place, one I would not send even my worst enemy."

Well, that explains how those Death Eaters went free, spineless old bastard.

"Send my regards to the jury then, I hope Snape enjoys his trial." I reply, grinning widely.

Dumbledore sighs and the disappointment in his expression sky rockets.

"Very well Mr. Potter." He grounds out, turning away. "Until we meet again."

"I would hope that we never meet again." I throw at his retreating form.

"I assure you, we will." Dumbledore throws back before vanishing into the crowd.

Prickly bastard, I can only hope that he's off to search for his wand, digging through dumpsters for it while it lays snugly in the pouch around my waist.

"Wrinkly old wanker." I mutter, turning into a nearby alley and flickering away.

* * *

I flicker into existence on the edge of Mount Hualalai, an active volcano located in Hawaii.

Pulling out my new cloak, I chuckle as my magic rolls across is surface, searching for any enchantments that shouldn't be there. I find three, Dumbledore may have thought it was a smart idea but he's still underestimating me as I easily spot the three tracking charms placed on the cloak.

Prickly bastard indeed.

It takes some effort but I'm able to remove the charms from the cloak and place them on a few nearby rocks, it was a bonus that they happened to be on a small ledge halfway into the volcano itself. I can only hope that whoever the old man sends after me will end up falling into volcano, wouldn't that just piss him off.

I also take this chance to actually examine the object in question and the familiar feeling it's giving off.

_'Ingenious.' _I muse, closely examining a section of the cloak, it truly was a work of art.

Regular Invisibility Cloaks are usually woven from Demiguise hair, a creature with the power to turn itself invisible. Or, for those too poor to afford them, they use normal fabrics with a slew of disillusionment runes stitched onto them, this makes them very useful objects but they still leave blurry outlines that can be used to find the wearer. There is also the fact that without the Demiguise's internal magic, or a reapplied charm to the runes, most cloaks only survive for a handful of years before the invisibility magic wares off.

This cloak however, is woven from a mix of Demiguise hair and threads of Naquadah, making it far more powerful and increasing its lifespan. No wonder it's a family heirloom, having lasted for so long, this cloak actually grants true invisibility, not disillusionment, it's superior to all other such cloaks.

I should remember to thank Dumbledore for this, it truly is a great gift that compliments my wand.

* * *

**-Hogwarts. General P.O.V-**

Albus Dumbledore's head snapped up when he sensed a familiar presence outside of his office door.

"Please, do come in Minerva dear." He chirped before she had the chance to knock.

His cheerful expression vanished when he saw the shaken and bedraggled form of his deputy as she entered the office. If looks could kill, Minerva's expression would have left him torn and broken in a ditch.

"No luck tracking Mr. Potter, I take it?" He asked with a frown, already knowing the answer.

The castration hex she threw spoke volumes about how badly the tracking went.

* * *

**-Two Days Later. Harry's P.O.V-**

**'So, you're sure you know what you're doing right?'**

_'Yes Salem, quit worrying, we'll be fine.'_ I huff, this is the third time he's asked.

**'Well, excuse me for lacking faith but this is trans-dimensional travel we're talking about, I may not know much about you humans and your magic but I do know that this is supposed to be impossible.' **Salem snipes back, his tone wavering.

_'Improbable, not impossible.'_ I reply cheerily, I don't often get to see the object of my annoyance ruffled, it's quite a joyful sight.

**'Whatever, I just don't want to be ripped apart into a million parts.' **He says, his tone less nervous than before.

_'We'll be fine, I'm sure the mirror will remember to put us back together on the other end.'_ I reassure him, for the fourth time today, it doesn't seem to work.

The two of us are currently standing high on Mount Hiei, higher than the monastery itself, this is an excellent location to place the Mirror since not many come all the way up here and any that do will find themselves rebuffed by the wards I've set up.

I've gone for the best of the best to hide this mirror, a Fidelius ward with myself as the secret keeper, although that had been quite difficult to pull off. First I had to talk some poor sap into accepting the position, being Harry Potter's secret keeper was more than enough to sway him, then I had to erect the wards and get the secret from him.

Then came the easy part, I killed him and became the secret keeper by default, quite ingenious of me I must say.

Enough stroking my own ego though, I have work to do.

The metallic surface of the mirror practically glows in the sunlight, urging me to reach out and touch it but I resist, doing so before I've input the coordinates could be disastrous. I could end up anywhere in the multiverse, that would be bad, plain and simple.

"Alright, here we go." I mutter, drawing my wand.

Salem really seems to be against this based on the way he's shaking, yet he stays seated on my shoulder, loyal to the end. It's times like this when I do love him, as much as a Goa'uld can love that is. I channel my magic into the wand and use it to press a series of runes, seven in total, the coordinates to my home reality. The metallic mirror ripples, a wave of power passing through it as it locks onto the proper realm.

Grinning in excitement, and ignoring my upset familiar, I reach out with my free hand and touch the mirror. With a squishing, sucking feeling reminiscent of Apparition, Salem and I are sucked into the mirror, flying through the cosmos on our way to a new destination.

* * *

An instant later, I step out of a different mirror and into a large cavern, one that I recognize. Despite its fall into ruin over the years, it's easily recognizable as the same cavern that I'd departed from over a millennium ago.

**'Ugh, I'm never doing that again.'** Salem groans, hopping off my shoulder.

"Oh suck it up, it wasn't that bad." I reply, grinning widely.

**'Get bent.'**

Chuckling, I glance around the mostly empty cavern, a majority of it having been cleared out by my forces ages ago, most of which had followed me into the mirror. I'm pleased that no one else has discovered the mirror in my absence, it would not do to step out into an ambush.

The chamber is large in size, large enough to fit a Ha'tak, and I know from past experience that the rooftop is retractable, allowing ships to enter or exit. Only the Quantum Mirror stands within the chamber, everything else has rusted away over the ages, even the light fixtures have rusted away and turned to dust, not that It matters since I can easily see in the darkness of the cavern.

_'Come along, we have to find the Chappa'ai.'_ I say, heading in the direction my memories provide.

From what I remember, this is the planet Anetem, located in the Milky Way galaxy. The surface of the planet was rendered mostly uninhabitable by natural disaster ages ago but the natives had built a series of underground structures, not that it helped them much when I invaded, my scanners could easily find their caverns.

Normally, I would flicker to the gate or to any other world that I remember but I've learned from my past experience with alternate realities, I can't be sure how my magic will react in this realm until I've had a chance to test it out.

From what I can sense, my magic is still acting the same as usual but I want to take a closer look before I take any risks. I do know for a fact that some branches of magic will fail in this reality, mostly the ones that draw on ambient magic to power themselves such as wards, rituals, scrying and pretty much anything else that requires runes. Branches that draw on my internal magic however, are another thing entirely and I need to test my limits before I do anything else.

_'Keep an eye out Salem, I need some time to meditate and check on my magic.'_ I order as we reach the Chappa'ai, the shields I activated long ago are still active so I know that no one else has come through or will be coming through while I'm here.

**'Alright but you owe me for this.' **He replies while shifting to a larger form, roughly the size of an adult tiger and bounding off to keep watch.

At least his abilities still work, I think he would be pretty angry if he was stuck at one size in this reality. I pull out his bottomless food and water bowls, in case he gets hungry and pour some of my own power into them. The runes on the bowls are already beginning to fail, I'm just glad that my pouch is blood bound so it draws on my own magic to work.

I take a seat, leaning against the Chappa'ai, and begin my breathing exercises, working towards a state of tranquility.

It takes me several minutes longer than usual to get into the proper state, seeing as I haven't meditated in weeks but soon enough I'm falling into my mind with remembered ease.

* * *

_'What. The. Hell?'_

Something is horribly, horribly wrong with my mind.

While my Occlumency barriers are still at their strongest, stronger than I've ever seen them before, the inside of my mind is a complete and utter mess. Millions, if not billions, of memories fill the inner void of my mind, floating about in a mess of colors and shapes, there are far to many for my heart-mind to sort. There are so many memories floating about that I can barely even see my magical core or my heart-mind.

This is bad, very, very bad.

With so many memories floating about, it's a miracle that I can even function as well as I have been, I suppose my enhanced barriers deserve the credit for that as anyone else would have fallen into a coma and been forced to relive each and every one of these memories.

I can't let this continue, if these memories continue to overwhelm my mind and magic, the effects could be disastrous. I'll have to sort them manually, all countless millions of them, at least Salem has his food and drink because this is going to take a long time.

With a sigh, I reach out and grab the first memory, its contents filtering though my mind at the touch, and begin sorting.

* * *

**-Ministry of Magic. General P.O.V-**

Albus Dumbledore released a sigh of annoyance as he sat in the Wizengamot chambers, he had hoped young Harry would change his mind and drop the charges but it was for naught and here they were, at the trial of Severus Snape.

His eyes turned over to the prosecutors desk where Silas Ricker, one of the top five barristers in the magical world, sat in discussion with a Goblin. It was strange for a Goblin to be involved in such proceedings, so why was there one here, siding with Harry Potter?

_'Perhaps he is here representing Gringotts,' _Dumbledore pondered, his brow furrowed in thought. _'The altercation did take place at their doors after all.'_

At that he turned his gaze to his side, where Severus Snape sat as aloof and uncaring as ever.

_'For a Slytherin, his plan sure lacked tact, publicly attacking young Harry in such a location.'_ He thought, shaking his head. _'I can't have his hatred of James Potter interfering in such a manner, how to deal with it though...'_

The sound of wood meeting wood draws his attention as Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, uses her gavel to bring the room to attention. The various members of the Wizengamot, reporters and spectators in the audience fell silent as the trial began.

Normally it would be he, as Chief Warlock, that would oversee the trial but strangely enough, no one else seemed able or willing to defend poor Severus. The Minister was next in line for the position but Cornelius was currently out of the country on business, thus the duty fell to Madame Bones as the head of law enforcement.

_'This may be difficult, she holds no love for Severus and much for the deceased Potters.' _Dumbledore thought with a frown._ 'But then again, Amelia is quite fair and impartial when it comes to official matters.'_

"Severus Snape, Potions Master and Lord of the House of Prince. You have been accused of the unwarranted assault of a minor, the alleged assault of a minor at an unknown date and time and endangering the public with your actions." Madame Bones began, her magically enhanced voice echoing throughout the chamber. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty." Snape replied, his tone and body motion showing that he clearly found this to be a waste of his time.

Amelia's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she continued on.

"Acting in defense for the accused is?" She asked, addressing Dumbledore.

"Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation for Wizards, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Lord of the Noble House of Dumbledore." He replied, using his full name and titles as was required for official records.

Madame Bones nodded, rolling her eyes at the many titles, although many of the audience and jury were impressed that someone of his position would defend a mere potions master and minor lord.

"Acting prosecutor?" Madame Bones asked, turning to the prosecutors desk.

"Silas Bartholomew Ricker, representing Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, heir to the Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black."

Dumbledore grimaced as the room burst into whispers, this was not good. While he had suspected that Sirius Black had declared Harry his heir before the Azkaban fiasco, he had never been able to verify this. Now, everybody knew and Harry Potter had just gained more power than he already held, especially seeing as he was a greater lord.

The House of Lords in the magical world is the main body of government, while the DMLE and Wizengamot enforce the laws, it is the House of Lords that creates those very laws. The various Lords making up the body are all separated into three different ranks, those at the top having more power than those below them.

At the bottom are the Minor Lords, such as Severus Snape, whose families have achieved lordship by simply going several generations without tainting their bloodlines. Minor Lords are afforded one vote in the House of Lords if they are of pureblood, half if they are not.

Then there are the Lords in the middle, such as Albus Dumbledore. The Lords are those who have been granted Noble titles for service to a past monarch or government, it was the only ranking that could be bought with gold and in fact some Lords had done just that. However, the price required to do so was so high that not many could afford it. The Lords of the Noble Houses were each afforded two votes, regardless of blood.

The final rank was the Greater Lords, those who were born into one of the old families. They were the Lords of the Ancient and Noble houses, descendants of the most powerful and famous witches and wizards in British history. The Greater Lords were given five votes each because of their small number and they held the most sway within the House of Lords.

And now Harry Potter was heir to two of those houses, holding more votes than any one Lord in the House of Lords. Of course, this had happened before, especially during times of war when many lords were killed but the last time had been well over a century ago.

Dumbledore couldn't help but sigh at the complications this would add to his already strained plans.

"Silence!" Madame Bones shouted, bringing her gavel down.

The room immediately went quiet as silencing wards sprung into being for a few seconds, when the wards dropped, there were a few mutters but the room had mostly quieted down.

"Now then, who exactly are you?" Madame Bones continued, looking at the Goblin in curiosity.

_'Strange, Gringotts representatives are required to present themselves before such trials.' _Dumbledore mused, turning to stare at the Goblin like many others in the room.

The Goblin made a face, somewhere between a smile and a sneer before it spoke.

"Ranglow the Fortuitous, High Supervisor of Gringotts London branch, Regent of the Ancient and Noble houses of Potter and Black." He replied, looking positively smug at that.

Dumbledore sighed as inhabitants of the room exploded in outrage, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

**-Anetem. Harry's P.O.V-**

It was like waking up for the first time in months when I opened my eyes, the last of my memories sorted. The last few days seemed like a dream, a long, blurry dream. With my memories sorted, I am myself once more, the memories of the Goa'uld in their rightful place; at the very back of my mind.

It's so freeing, being able to think clearly.

While I have been able to function well the last few days, I wasn't truly myself, it was as if all of my regular thoughts and actions were being passed through a filter and coming out skewed.

The Goa'uld memories I had absorbed had completely overwhelmed me and pushed my own mind to the back but now the positions are reversed, the Goa'uld memories have been forced to the back and I am now in full control of myself, I can still consult the Goa'uld memories should I require them but now they no longer influence or control my actions.

**'Are you finally awake?'** Salem's voice booms, sounding very annoyed. **'About time you lazy brat.'**

_'Salem? How long have I been out of it?'_ I ask, failing to stand as my body groans in protest.

**'How should I know, it's always dark in this blasted cave.' **He snaps back.** 'Thanks for leaving me here all alone by the way.'**

_'You're welcome.'_ I reply cheekily. _'Now how long was I out? I know you kept track.'_

**'Psh, I have better things to do than act as your stupid clock.'** He snipes back, sniffing arrogantly.

_'Aw Salem, I don't think of you as a clock.'_ I reply, grinning.

**'Annoying brat.'** He grumbles. **'You were out for three days.'**

_'I love you too.'_

Hmm, three days isn't so bad, it would have taken much longer if I wasn't so experienced in the mind arts.

**'Can we get out of here soon? I miss the feeling of the sun on my fur.'**

_'Yeah, just give me a second to activate the Chappa'ai.'_

**'Oh joy, more of your strange portals.'**

I grin and turn my attention to the Chappa'ai, trying to decide on where to go first.

At first, I'd wanted to head home through the Quantum Mirror, leaving this strange reality behind but honestly, the Goa'uld me had a great idea. Building an empire in this realm is a worthy goal, one that I plan to continue, though I have separate reasons for doing so.

His goals were to conquer this realm and rule over the galaxy as the Supreme Lord of the Goa'uld and God of the humans and Jaffa, his methods involved ruling through fear, enslaving millions and killing millions more.

I on the other hand, want to conquer this realm and rule over the galaxy as the Supreme Lord of the Goa'uld and God of the humans and Jaffa. My methods however, will involve ruling through respect, earning the allegiance of my subjects and killing only those that stand in my path.

The Goa'uld are tyrants, they keep their subjects fearful and uneducated out of a fear of rebellion. I on the other hand, have my magic, which I've determined will work just as well in this realm. With my powers to back up my claims of godhood, I could bring happiness and prosperity to the many innocents under Goa'uld rule, and in return they would revere and worship me.

A perfect win, win situation.

I not acting out of the goodness of my heart however, I still remember my lessons at the Dursleys. The Goa'uld are strong, the slaves were weak, so the Goa'uld rule over them; that's how the world works, no matter what reality you're in. My drives are still the same, to grow stronger and achieve immortality, this reality just has the best chance at helping me achieve those goals.

With the countless technologies in this reality, I can achieve greatness, especially if I could build them back home. There's so much to learn here, so much that my Goa'uld doesn't know. The Goa'uld are scavengers, they steal what few technology they can find and reinvent what they can't, their only advantage is that they are far more advanced than the races they subjugate and have the numbers to throw at their more advanced enemies.

Still, there were so many more races in this universe with far superior technology than the Goa'uld, technologies that I could learn to build and use.

There's also the fact that many races in this reality have achieved some form of immortality. The Goa'uld have their sarcophagus, which can even bring the dead back to life. The Asgard have their cloning technology, not to mention the machines that could swap their consciousness from one body to another. Then there are the countless machines, nanites and devices that could be used to heal even the most fatal of wounds. It's from my memories of such machines that I realize that it's through advanced technology, not magic, that I can achieve immortality.

But none of that helps with my current dilemma, where to go first?

The Goa'uld me had been torn on his first destination, he could either go to one of the minor Goa'uld to start his conquest or to one of his siblings to start an alliance. While Goa'uld are as far from caring and loving as can be, they still hold some semblance of familial bonds, they couldn't trust each other but they could count on their family leaving them alive at the least.

I take a minute to think and plan before deciding where to go, I'll pay one of the minor Goa'uld a visit. An alliance will be easier to forge if I have some semblance of proof of my power, besides a simple show of magic. With that, I deactivate the gate-shields and program a destination into the Chappa'ai, which activates with a loud whoosh.

_'Come along Salem.'_ I say after making sure the other end of the gate is clear of obstruction.

**'Ugh, this is going to suck.'** the cat grumbles, walking beside me at his normal size.

Taking a deep breath, I shift into what I'm going to call my **Goa'uld Mode,** there are no physical differences, just a change in my general attitude and expression. My back straightens, my head is held high, my expression becomes mainly bored and disinterested yet at the same time I have a smirk which is half patronizing smile and half imperious sneer. All in all, the appearance of an overbearing aristocrat, far more impressive than what most Goa'uld can pull off.

At least it would be impressive if I wasn't an eleven year old brat, oh well, I have no reason to use an illusion on my form, no reason to hide my appearance. To the slaves, a child god is still a god nonetheless and it would cause the Goa'uld to underestimate me, thinking their adult hosts are stronger than my child form.

With my newest mask in place, I step through the Chappa'ai with Salem trailing behind me and we're instantly pulled through the wormhole, headed for a new destination.


	7. Empire Rising

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire.**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**A.N1: So, from what my poll reveals, a lot of people preferred the name Heka. I'll be using that name for sure but I'll also be adding my own twist to the Goa'uld myth. Most of this chapter is the same but there are changes in the sections where Harry meets his guard and where he gives the speech to his new empire.**

**A.N2: Once again, assuming that you have some basic knowledge of the SG universe, I'll be using some Goa'uld words instead of the English translations. This will only be for the most basic of words though, stuff that you should know from watching episode 1 to 3 at the least. I.E: you should know the meanings of Jaffa, Chappa'ai and Kree at the very least.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Empire Rising.**

I gingerly step out of the Chappa'ai, taking only a moment to regain my bearings, and come face to face with the firing ends of several staff weapons, held by twelve stoic Jaffa. While a couple of them are of African or Caucasian descent, from what I can tell at a single glace, the majority of them are of Asiatic descent.

Ah, I seem to be in the right place.

The world I've chosen, originally named Azorash, is a large planet located in a small system on the outer edge of the galaxy. Like many Goa'uld controlled worlds, it is mostly a desert, the surface resources all used up to fuel the Goa'uld empire. That's why a thousand years ago my Goa'uld, Susanoo: Storm God and Lord of the Sea, gifted this very world to one of the minor Goa'uld in his service.

Right now though, it is the perfect place to gather information, being far from other Goa'uld controlled systems as far as I can remember. I should be able to take this planet with ease, assuming that this system hasn't been absorbed by a more powerful System Lord while Susanoo was gone, if so then I could be in a bit of trouble.

Here's hoping I'm not taking to grand of a risk.

* * *

I'm not too surprised to find Asiatic Jaffa guarding this Chappa'ai, in fact, I expect them to make up the major population of this world. Susanoo and his minions had all held a large influence on the Asian cultures of Earth, Japan being the most prominent of all, and for this reason many of their worlds are populated by the descendants of those Asians.

**"Jaffa, Kree!" **I command in the deep tones of a Goa'uld, flashing my eyes for added effect.

They immediately snap to attention and bow.

"My lord." One of the Jaffa greets, stepping forward. "How may we serve?"

He is an older man, roughly thirty or so but probably much older seeing as Jaffa are genetically engineered to age very slowly. He is dressed in the standard uniform most Jaffa wear, a mix of chain and plate armor, and on his forehead is the sign of his lord, a series of swirls closely resembling wind currents. While each of the other Jaffa carry a standard staff weapon, this one favors a pair of Zat'nik'tel, a smaller, more accurate yet equally as deadly weapon, he carries one in each hand but I'm glad to see that neither are pointed in my direction.

He seems to be the leader of this small group based on how the others defer to him.

Taking my chance, I send forth a Legilimency probe, attempting to learn something about this world and its lord. I instantly find myself in the inner most parts of his mind, his mental shields being pretty much nonexistent, and I'm able to peruse his thoughts and memories with ease. It is actually quite simple to navigate the mind of a Jaffa, far simpler than with the humans in my own reality. This might be due to the Jaffa practice of Kel'no'reem, a meditative art that they use to organize their minds and connect with their symbiote, it may help them focus but it makes their minds so easy to read.

Even with this ease of access, I'm not able to find much information in the Jaffa's mind on the subjects I seek, pertinent information is limited to most Jaffa as their Goa'uld masters are hardy going to trust them with any important information. Despite that, I am still able to piece together a few things using the clues provided.

Apparently, the minor Goa'uld that had been left in charge here, Fujin: God of the Wind, has done quite well for himself over the last millennium. He was able to somewhat grow in power since he's too far away for any other Goa'uld to bother with but the distance has also stunted his development, there aren't many worlds close enough for him to spread to and protect with his limited forces, so he is forced to keep his empire smaller than he would like. Despite this, his empire has grown from one planet to six over the last thousand years, his military might is small compared to those of the other Goa'uld however, as he only has eight Ha'tak and a slew of smaller vessels under his control.

The world I'm currently on, renamed Taiyu now, is also his main world, with him residing in a palace a few miles from here.

How fortunate for me.

Other than these little but still important tidbits, the Jaffa has nothing else to really offer me, so I silently withdraw from his mind.

**"Take me to your lord." **I command, already striding off with Salem following beside me, his presence largely ignored by the Jaffa warriors. I would have preferred to use the always popular 'Take me to your Leader' but the word Leader would refer to a higher ranked Jaffa, not the Goa'uld ruler that I plan to dethrone, oh well, I'll save it for the next opportunity.

As I walk by the squad of Jaffa, my demeanor is arrogant and dismissive like a Goa'ulds, I keep it up so as to not arouse suspicion, anything less and they would not hesitate to attack me.

From the group of twelve, half have followed behind me, their leader moving to walk in front of me as they form a security detail around my form. This is to both guide me in the correct direction and to keep me surrounded should I prove hostile, it would take less than a second for them to draw and fire into the circle.

* * *

As we pass through the large city of Tanako, capital of this world and the biggest city on the planet, I can't help but frown. The people here are so thin and malnourished that most of them look like they're about to drop dead at any moment, they're all dressed in rags and the homes are nothing more than rundown shacks and decrepit huts, it's all quite pathetic.

_'Disgusting.'_ I rage, looking at the poverty around me. _'The true wealth of an empire is measured by the prosperity of its people, something that the Goa'uld don't seem to realize, by allowing your empire to fall into ruin like this you're just proving how pathetic a ruler you truly are.'_

There may be a lesser chance of rebellion if your people are overworked and uneducated but if you push them too far, they will eventually fight back and revolt, that's what happened to Ra on Earth. This place looks like it's just one small push away from open rebellion, it wont matter whether they have a chance of winning or not, push too hard and they'll do it regardless of risk.

Things just keep working in my favor.

* * *

Soon enough, my entourage and I reach the palace of Fujin and I'm not surprised to see that it is quite extravagant, carved from black marble and decorated with gold and precious gems, all of which were likely mined by the slaves in the city.

"Pretentious prick." I mutter under my breath, following the guards to the throne room.

We enter the throne room, which is covered in even more precious gems than the rest of the palace, and my guards split away. They fade into the shadows at the sides of the room where another fifty or so Jaffa stand, these must be Fujin's personal guards, the Wind Guard if I'm not mistaken; this seems to be the correct assumption as they all carry modified staff weapons.

Fujin himself sits on a large, ostentatious throne made of gold and even more precious gems, the throne sits on a raised platform located at the far end of the room, a dark red carpet stretching from the doors the throne. Fujin's host is a large man, of dark skin and crimson hair, decked out in a golden kimono that's studded with black opals, all sorts of jewelry adorn his form and he wears a golden circlet on his head with his personal mark in full display on the front. Lastly, there is a modified hand device on his left hand and an equally modified Zat'nik'tel clipped to his waist.

All in all, the appearance of a very rich and powerful Goa'uld.

Quite frankly I like my appearance more. I'm wearing the simple black and silver, suit and trench coat outfit that madam Malkin had designed months ago, and while it lacks in extravagance, it doesn't scream 'pretentious asshole' like Fujin's appearance.

"Why have you sought me out child." Fujin asks, his eyes glowing and a frown on his face as he tries to figure out who I am.

**"Child? Is that any way to speak to your lord and master?" **I ask, chuckling in feigned amusement while completely ignoring the various staff weapons that are now aimed at me, the Wind Guard seems peeved at my disrespect. **"Or have you already forgotten me?**

Salem chooses this moment to dart off into the shadows but no one pays him any attention.

Fujin snarls and angrily leans forward in his throne, his hand device glows as he grips his arm rests tightly, so tight that the gold begins to deform beneath his grasp.

**"I have no master!"** He shouts in outrage, the dual-toned voice of a Goa'uld rising from his throat.

I chuckle once more, my expression shifting into a condescending smile.

**"Truly? It wasn't so long ago that you knelt at my feet, begging for your life and my mercy."** I say, taking a step forward, the staff weapons remain trained on my position.

His eyes widen in shock as he leaps to his feet.

**"You!?"** He snarls, eyes narrowing into slits. **"Impossible, you're supposed to be dead."**

**"Perhaps."** I reply in a bland tone.**"But clearly, I'm not."**

His eyes rake over my form and he smirks, dropping back into his throne and reclining lazily.

**"You were a fool to come here unarmed, in the body of a child no less." **he chuckles, a motion of his hand filling the room with the sound of several dozen staff weapons powering up. **"Did you think I would bow at your feet once more? That I would assist you in some way?"**

My expression turns blank as I stop playing, I draw on my magic, focusing on what I need done.

"Yes." I reply in an even, human, tone. "You will bow before me or die."

Even as I speak the words, I know that he will not bow or compromise, Goa'uld are far too arrogant and prideful to do such a thing, especially when they seemingly hold the upper hand.

He laughs and makes another motion, the guards aim their weapons and fire.

Most Goa'uld like to play on the myths written about them, trying to live up to the many stories that their subjects have written about them in order to propagate the myth and solidify their rule. It's for this reason that all of Fujin's hosts are large, hulking men with dark skin and crimson hair, it also for this reason that his robes are fashioned to look like a leopards pelt, and it's for this reason that most of his weapons are modified to fire powerful gusts of condensed air.

Rather than the regular balls of super-heated plasma, the staff weapons of the Wind Guard are modified to fire balls of plasma energy surrounded by condensed wind, it truly is an ingenious idea.. and wholly ineffectual. I keep my expression blank and my eyes locked with Fujin's as the staff blasts of his men splash harmlessly against my shield charm, the shock in his eyes is enough to make this all worth it and then some. His men are shocked as well but they continue firing, hoping to bring down my shield, its all to no effect.

**"Impossible!"** Fujin shouts, leaping to his feet once more and waving his hand device, scanning me. **"You have no technology on you, how is this possible?"**

I smirk and twirl my finger in a swirling motion, drawing on my power and flashing a golden aura, a neat party trick that serves no purpose than to intimidate and impress. Rather than striking my shield, the remaining attacks veer off and spin around me in a circle, blending together to create a tornado of wind and energy.

A flick of my finger sends the tornado flying out in all directions, blowing the Jaffa off their feet, I've weakened its power as it held more than enough plasma energy to incinerate them all.

**"Technology? I, unlike you, am a true god."** I reply with a sneer, slipping my Goa'uld mask back on in the hopes of goading him into attacking. **"I have no need for the fancy tricks your technology provides."**

**"You insolent fool!"** He shouts, easily falling for my trap.

With a snarl, he thrusts his arm forward, the hand device glowing with power as an almost invisible wall of air is sent towards me, the wind blowing at insane speeds.

Good, but not good enough.

**"I am a God, do you really think your pathetic toys can harm me?"** I shout back, flaring my aura for effect.

A fast, slicing motion with my right hand cuts the wall in half, the two halves blowing past me and slamming against the throne room's doors with a loud crash. That was actually pretty impressive, for a Goa'uld, but it's to be expected. The only reason Susanoo allowed him to live after defeating him was for his brilliant mind, in military matters at least, Fujin is quite talented at modifying any technology he could get his hands on.

**"Pathetic as always Fujin, now it's my turn."** I say with a grin, drawing on my magic. **  
**

My fingers begin crackling, arcs of black electricity dancing among them, slowly growing in power. Fujin can only stare at the display in shock, completely baffled on how I can do such a thing without any technology, I'm sure the word Hok'tar has passed through his mind a few times. As the arcs of electricity in my hand grow in number and strength, he finally snaps out of his shock and presses a button on his hand device, causing a bluish bubble of fast moving air and energy to swirl to life around him, his modified shield rising to defend him from my attack.

That's quite an ingenious modification actually, the swirling air actually compensates for the most known weakness of the personal shield, it's capable of blowing aside any slow moving objects that pass through the energy shield and I'm willing to bet it's powerful enough to cut any organic matter that passes through it. This makes the user immune from fast moving attacks, as well as the slow moving and physical attacks that would normally be used to take down a Goa'uld.

Too bad it's useless against me.

**"Witness true power!"** I sneer, both of my hands flying forward, aimed at his chest.

In a flash, twin bolts of pitch black lightning leap from my fingers, releasing a loud crack as they cut through the air at ridiculous speeds. Fujin only has a moment for his eyes to widen in shock, before the two bolts pierce through his shield and blast a duo of searing holes in his chest and abdomen, easily passing through him to singe the wall behind him.

It's at that instant that I strike, my mental probe attacking while he's distracted by his impending death. I plow through the Goa'ulds weakened shields, ignoring both its pleas for mercy and those of help from its host, at this stage there is nothing I can do to save the host, and begin rummaging through his mind. I've learned from my past mistakes however and rather than absorbing the Goa'ulds entire mind, I find everything he knows about modifying Goa'uld technology and copy it into my own mind. Next, I copy everything I need to know about the last thousand years, new planets and systems that have been discovered, new System Lords that have risen to power, new technologies that have been invented, everything of value is copied and absorbed in a matter of seconds.

With that done, I leave his mind behind, just in time to see him drop to his knees, his eyes open wide in shock and his mouth gaping in a silent scream. With a final breath from his none existent lungs, Fujin falls flat on his face, dead before he hits the floor. I'm not taking any chances though and my hands crackle and glow as another, more powerful, bolt of lightning flies from my hands.

I'm actually forced to close my eyes as the entire room is filled with a bright flash of light, almost blinding me with my enhanced sight. When the spots clear from my vision, there is only a spreading pudding of liquid metal, with some sprinkles of ash, remaining of the corpse and throne.

"Well, that's that." I mutter, stepping onto the platform that once held the golden throne. The marble cracks beneath my feet, cooling quickly from the heat of my lightning bolt, but the platform holds together.

The sound of something striking my still active shield draws my attention and I whirl on my feet, my face blank but my eyes blazing with anger. The many Jaffa in the room have all stood once more, most staring at me in shock, awe and fear while others look furious.

**"Jaffa, Kree!"** I shout angrily, upset at yet another shot at my back in a short two weeks, I really need to be more aware of my surroundings.

At my command, a few Jaffa drop to their knees but it's just the six that escorted me from the Chappa'ai, the rest don't even twitch.

_'Of course, the rest are his personal guard.' _I sigh, knowing where this is headed._ 'Loyal to the end.'_

**"Jaffa, KREE!"** I shout once more, my eyes and aura flaring.

I would really prefer it if they surrender, rather than continue fighting for a dead god but there is little chance of that happening, the personal guards of a Goa'uld are honor bound to die with their god. While their loyalty in quite commendable, it is completely misplaced but that's millenia of indoctrination for you. As I expect, they don't even twitch as they continue to stand, glaring at me hatefully.

Then one shouts unintelligibly and opens fire on me, his comrades follow soon after.

_'Goddamn brainwashed pawns.'_ I grumble in annoyance, knowing that they're too far gone to do anything but fight to the death. _'You can jump in anytime you want Salem.'_

I receive an amused snort through our link but a second later the room descends into chaos as a cat, roughly five times the size of an average man, appears from the shadows and begins tearing the Jaffa apart. I smirk and jump in as well, spells flying from my hands and decimating my opponents, I may prefer it if they surrender but that doesn't change the fact that it will be an exciting battle, I haven't had a real test of my skills since my brief stint in the army and I'm far stronger than I was then.

Two nearby Jaffa focus their fire on me, trying to overpower my shield with continuous fire, like that's going to happen. Magical shields were specifically created to deal with energy based attacks, compared to the more powerful spells these shields can block, staff blasts are nothing. Still, if they want my attention that badly, they've got it.

Turning towards the two, I flick my left hand at the younger looking Jaffa, firing a dark oriented, blinding charm and hitting him square in the chest. I'm rewarded with a piercing scream as he drops his staff weapon and falls to his knees, his hands flying to his eyes as they boil and melt within his skull; that spell truly serves to illustrate the difference between the light and the dark, the light would artificially blind you with magic or a bright flare of light, the dark will simply remove your eyes from your skull.

The other Jaffa pales frightfully and rushes me, foolishly choosing fight over flight.

Seeing that his energy bolts are failing, he attempts a physical attack, hoping that my shield shares the same weakness as the Goa'uld personal shields. Luckily for him, it works as this particular shield spell is only designed to block energy attacks, so I'm forced to duck as his staff weapon slices through the air just over my head. This achievement seems to bolster him as he raises the staff above his head, aiming to crush my skull with a powerful blow.

I don't give him the chance.

The look of shock on his face when both his arms fall off at the shoulders, blood gushing from the wounds, is priceless. The look of fear on his face when golden lightning surrounds my left hand is hilarious, maybe I'm taking too much pleasure from this.

**"Chidori!"** I shout for effect, jumping forward and driving my lightning covered hand through his chest, he gasps as my hand explodes out his back but a moment later his eyes glaze over in death.

I turn from the corpse, searching for another target but the screaming from the first Jaffa is getting a bit annoying, might as well put him out of his misery. His screams end abruptly in a flash of green light and I turn back to the battle raging on around me.

Of the original fifty Wind Guard Jaffa, only twenty remain, the rest have been torn apart by the combined assault of Salem and the Jaffa that surrendered to me. Although Salem is still going strong, the staff blasts washing off of his large bulk to no effect, three of the six Jaffa are down and only the leader from earlier and two others remain.

I frown and rush forward, golden magic swirling around my form as I close the distance.

The twenty Jaffa are quick to realize that they're being attacked from two fronts and make a final rush, fourteen holding off Salem and the other three Jaffa while the other six rush me, their staff weapons raised to attack physically. My guess is that they saw my earlier fight and have realized that physical attacks will have greater effect than energy based attacks, a sound plan but they're still underestimating me.

The first to reach me is a young male, roughly eighteen years old or so, and he swings his staff hard, aiming for my chest. My arm snaps up and between my enhanced strength and dense bones, the staff is broken and ripped from his hands. My counter attack floors him, my punch to his chest caving it in and killing him. By this time, the other five have made it to me, their faces stoic as they ignore the dead body and attack me fiercely.

The next few seconds are full of close calls as the five, genetically engineered Jaffa attack with speed far surpassing a regular human. Of course, being smaller and just as enhanced, I'm able to dodge with ease, taking the time to slip into the beginning stance of my fighting style. One of the Jaffa lunges at me with his staff, aiming to spear me through the chest, but with a movement he can barely follow, I send him flying over my back and into the ground, hard. The impact would have stunned or even killed a regular human but the Jaffa is able to shrug it off, the blasting curse to the skull however, keeps him down for the count.

Only four remain and they come at me together, working in tandem but it doesn't seem like they're used to doing so, their actions are slower and sloppier. Mine however, are fast and precise as I slip into the practiced forms of my martial art, ducking and redirecting their attacks.

Eventually, I dodge away from two of them, moving closer to the other two and one of them seems to have a bright idea as he thrusts his staff at me. Rather than following through however, he stops just as the staff passes through my shield and opens fire. Two staff blasts slam into my chest and my eyes widen in shock as I go flying back, a second later I land on my back, eyes glazed over in death.

The four Jaffa actually release a victory cheer before they realize that something is wrong, this realization comes about when two of their number drop, their heads rolling away as blood pools on the floor. The other two have just enough time to exclaim in shock as I appear before them, my eyes blazing with power. Their eyes are on my 'corpse' which has just turned into a murder of crows, crows that fly around the throne room before fading away.

Magic clone, don't ever leave home without it.

Before the two Jaffa can react to this sudden change, my hands fly up and I place one finger on each of their chests, magic surging down my arms and into their chests. Their faces are a mask of agony as their hearts break, literally, the spell tears their hearts in two, before the two halves are shredded into chunks of useless meat.

The two Jaffa collapse to the floor and I straighten, taking in the rest of the room. The last fourteen are already dead and Salem is off to one side, ripping meat off a corpse and devouring it.

Gross.

As for my own recruits, all six appear to be relatively fine, the three that were down back on their feet even if they are limping painfully. All six also appear to be staring at me in shock and what a sight I must be, my magic swirls around me angrily, an aura of golden power just waiting to be called upon and I know my eyes must be glowing in the semi-darkness of the throne room.

The leader from earlier is the first to snap out of it and he bows respectfully.

"My lord." His actions are soon copied by the other five and they remain bowed as I glance them over.

They are all of Asiatic descent, roughly the same age, with short cropped black hair and eyes. Two are women, both appearing beautiful and dangerous like most Jaffa women, and the other three are men, slightly younger than the leader but they all appear to be over twenty years old.

"Rise." I command, making my way to Fujin's throne, a wave of my hand reforming the lump of melted gold into a smaller throne.

I take my seat, ignoring the looks of continued shock on their faces at the display, and my golden aura fades away. I glance around the throne room and frown, bodies litter the floor and everything is covered in blood, there are gouges and slash marks in the weak gold walls from Salem's fight but most of the place is in tact.

"Disgusting." I mutter out loud. "I need to clean this place up."

"Shall I summon some servants to dispose of the bodies my lord?" The older Jaffa asks and I shake my head no, turning my attention to the six.

"What are your names?" I ask, calling a ball of Darkfyre to life in my hands.

They stare for a few seconds, their minds trying to comprehend the strange sight, before they snap out of it and register the question.

The leader steps forward.

"I am known as Surei, my lord." he informs, saluting with a fist to the chest.

"Asha'ka, my lord." One of the females replies with a bow, she has longer hair than the other as it falls down to her shoulder.

"Jav'tac, my lord." The youngest of the bunch announces, he appears to be roughly twenty years old but looks can be deceiving with Jaffa.

"Tej'oc, my lord." Another male announces, saluting like the leader, this one is completely bald with his hair shaved to the skin.

"Mina, my lord." The second female mutters, bowing at the waist, she appears to be the second youngest of them with her hair cut short.

"Fal'nor, my lord." The last member of the group announces, saluting as well, there's not much about him that stands out but I make a note to memorize all their faces.

I nod and examine them for a moment, the ball of eldritch flames dancing across my fingers. Mina and Jav'tac, the youngest two in the group, shuffle nervously under my gaze but they remain stoic and composed nonetheless, the sounds of Salem devouring a corpse nearby does nothing to ease their nervousness however.

"You have each proven your loyalty to me, siding with me against a much larger force, for this you shall be rewarded." I begin, looking them all in the eyes.

My passive Legilimency scan picks up no ill intent as they all appear to be quite loyal, seeing me as a more powerful god than Fujin. Speaking of which, I have yet to decide what identity I will be using as I forge my new empire.

Harry Potter is definitely out, my birth name is in no way godly enough and while Harry might be the name used by royalty on Earth, it means next to nothing in Goa'uld space and would probably serve to expose my origins if the earth of this universe is space faring. This doesn't mean that I dislike my true name or plan to throw it away though, I'll simply keep it secret and only share it with those I trust.

As for Susanoo, I wouldn't touch that name with a fifty foot pole. The Susanoo of the past was as evil and cruel as all others of his kind, he was the epitome of the Goa'uld race and took great pleasure in spreading pain and terror throughout his empire. With their long lives and indoctrination through legends and stories, Jaffa have long memories in regards to the Goa'uld. If I take up the name Susanoo, they will definitely know of the actions and terror associated with that name.

So, both Harry Potter and Susanoo are out as choices, what does that leave me? There are few gods that I can believably impersonate as most of my choices are either still alive and ruling empires of their own, or are actually members of the Asgard race which wouldn't work out in my favor. That leaves me with one choice, I'll have to create a brand new god of my own.

_'Or...'_

A devilish grin crosses my face as I'm struck with sudden inspiration, there's one name that I can use, a Goa'uld that is no longer alive but whose name could serve my needs. This particular Goa'uld had been strange among his own kind, treating his servants well and even allowing them to be educated, all of this before Egeria and her Tok'ra came to exist.

Of course this had all led to his painful and gruesome death at the hand of Ra and the other Goa'uld.

Still, impersonating this Goa'uld would work for me far better than impersonating Susanoo, especially because the Jaffa would have some legends in regards to this Goa'uld. From what I remember, the Goa'uld I plan to impersonate was believed to be the physical embodiment of magic and the soul by his servants, capable of performing numerous miracles as well as protecting mortals from the gods. I'm not sure where the magic and soul bits come from but the protection part definitely has some basis in reality, this particular Goa'uld had actually killed two of his kind in protection of his personal servants, violently tearing the symbiotes from their hosts and crushing their true forms with his bare hands.

Other legends spoke of this Goa'uld cherishing health and wholeness above all else, so it won't seem strange for me to care about the well-being of my subjects or to improve their quality of life. There was also the powerful religious overtones attached to the name, as some time after his death, the Goa'uld's name had become tied with a variety of ritual practices among the Jaffa and slaves. Overall, the name works well for me and it already holds great respect and power among my new subjects, it will take some shows of magic to pull it off but that's simple enough for me.

Oh my, this is going to be fun, I can even imagine the uproar once the name spreads to the rest of the Goa'uld.

_**"I am Heka, embodiment of magic, deliverer of miracles and protector of mortals."**_ I continue after the short pause, my voice slipping into what I now consider my godly tone. A slight application of magic to my vocal cords serves to grant me a godly tone that is quite different from the dual tones of the Goa'uld, the voice is softer and sibilant but each word spoken seems to resound in their minds, as if I'm speaking to them telepathically as well as vocally. _**"From this moment forth, I am your lord and protector, your merciful god and the sole ruler of this world, do you understand?"**_

"Yes, Lord Heka." They all reply in amazement, I can practically see the awe in their eyes at my identity, I definitely made the correct choice with my impersonation.

Nodding at their reply, I flick my finger outward, causing the flames in my hand to surge forward powerfully, turning from a ball of small flames to a zoo of wild fire. Thousands of different flame creatures pour across the throne room, covering everything in sight with ebony flames and filling the room with stifling heat. There are a few shocked exclamations from within the mass of creatures but those soon stop when the six realize they are unharmed, the flames tickling them at the most.

With a force of will, I banish the flames away and examine the throne room once more, pleased with my accomplishment. The entire place has been scrubbed spotless, the corpses and blood removed, leaving only the armor and weapons behind. The six Jaffa are staring around in shock, this new display of magical power completely baffling them.

_**"As you have witnessed, I am unlike the false god Fujin and his ilk, my powers are my own and not some trickery of machines."**_ I continue, speaking like this is a bit difficult as I have to choose my words carefully but it's all part of the persona I'm building, just need to tap into my inner pureblood for the formality.

Snapping my fingers, I smirk as all the armor in the room snaps up and begins repairing itself, folding and sorting itself magically once repaired. The staff weapons all rise up and prop themselves against one wall, arranged into neat little rows. The one bonus to a lack of ambient magic in this reality is that my own magic is able to affect machines without breaking them, this reality is ruled by technology and science and my magic is simply too weak to overpower the technology here.

_'Perhaps I should develop a spell that will affect the technology of this reality,' _I muse, turning my attention back to the Jaffa._ 'It will most likely come in very handy in the future.'_

They seem slightly confused at my statement about false gods but that doesn't matter right now, they'll learn. They do nod nonetheless, still taken aback by the miraculous sight before them.

"Serve me loyally and you shall be rewarded with your hearts desire," I begin in a normal tone, then my eyes glint and my voice turns dangerous. _**"Betray me and I shall tear your souls asunder and cast the remains into the abyss, am I clear?"**_

"Yes, Lord Heka!"

My expression returns to normal, a gracious smile firmly in place.

"Good." I say, nodding in satisfaction. "For your services today, you shall all receive the honor of serving as my personal guard, you Surei shall be my First Prime."

Their eyes light up at that, excitement clear in their expressions. Serving in the personal guard of their god is the dream of many Jaffa warriors, it is one of the highest honors they can receive, with only the position of First Prime contesting with that.

"You shall answer to me and me alone, no others shall stand above you." I continue in a low tone. "Not even the other so called gods."

"Thank you my lord, you honor us." Surei says, bowing deeply, an action that is quickly repeated by the other five.

I smirk slightly and nod.

"Do not disappoint me."

At that Salem finally makes himself known, walking towards the throne, shrinking with each step much to the amazement of my new guard.

"This is Salem Saberhagen, my familiar." I explain, ignoring their confusion at the name and title. "He is exceptionally intelligent so I warn you to treat him with the respect he deserves, I will know if you do not."

"He shall be revered by our people." Surei replies, bowing to the cat.

**'Oh I like him, why can't you be more like him?'** The feline asks, sitting beside my throne comfortably.

_'Because I know what an annoying prat you are.'_ I reply with a mental grin.

Salem snorts and lays his head down, tired from the use of so much of his stored magic, it was quite draining to shrug of the energy bolts for as long as he did.

"I hope so," I reply to Surei's comment, standing up from the throne, Salem awakens immediately and takes the opportunity to steal my seat, the cushioning charms on it being far more comfortable than the floor.

"Your first duty Surei," I continue, sending annoyance through the link to the cat. "Shall be to deal with this... _monstrosity._"

The last word is sneered out with utter loathing as I wave my hand at the throne room.

"Gather some helpers from the village and take everything of value from this place, divide the food and riches among the needy and tear this palace apart." I continue, ignoring the shock on their faces. "I have no need for such trivial things as gold and jewels, the well-being of my subjects is my chief concern."

That earns me some further loyalty, and serves to further establish my claimed identity, as they all nod and bow respectfully.

"Also, find a group of women to see to Salem, he shall be fed, washed and groomed at least once a day." I continue on, sending my familiar a cheeky grin as his head snaps up at the word wash. "I myself have business elsewhere."

"Do you require someone to accompany you my lord." Asha'ka asks, speaking for the first time since she introduced herself.

"No," I reply, shaking my head. "I shall return in three days time, have all the warriors on this planet gather in the desert to the west from here, I shall address them when I return."

They nod and I walk past them, headed for the door, I stop at the threshold and turn to them.

"Oh, I should probably do something about those atrocious sigils on your heads." I hum, waving my hand.

They gasp as my power surges forward invisibly and touches their foreheads, warping the sign of Fujin into my own personal symbol, well at least what I plan to make my personal mark in this universe. The swirling air pattern of Fujin vanishes from their heads, replaced by a pair of entwined snakes within a set of arms, an image that had been used to represent Heka after he crushed his two kin. A small change on my part causes the snakes to writhe in what can only be pain as the two hand close on them before the image resets and repeats itself, my modification of the same charm used in magical photos serves to add a certain mysticism to the mark, further reinforcing my claim as the embodiment of magic.

It's these little things that matter in the long run.

Of course, this bit of charm work is quite draining but it's well worth it, the charms on the sigils are tied to each of their lifeforces, drawing infinitesimal amounts to power themselves. The sigils will also transfer to any nearby Jaffa with Fujin's mark on their head, replacing the old marks and allowing my mark to spread quickly across my new empire.

It's also a bonus that they look far more impressive than the mark of any other Goa'uld.

My new subjects take a moment to look at each other, examining their new marks and I choose that moment to vanish with a flicker, leaving them baffled at my disappearance.

* * *

I reappear at the Chappa'ai, the six remaining guards jumping to attention as I appear out of thin air.

**_"Fujin is dead."_** I announce making my way to the gate. _**"You serve me now."**_

They share a look before bowing respectfully, their allegiance changing with little hesitation. Unlike the personal guard, the loyalty of the Jaffa goes to whoever is their lord or whoever defeats that lord, it's how they were indoctrinated and taught so I can't fault them for it.

**_"Report to Surei at the palace, he is my first prime and his orders are to be obeyed."_** I command as I input a location into the Chappa'ai.

"Yes, my lord!" they shout but it's mostly drowned out by the whoosh of the wormhole forming and I pay them no mind as I step into the gate, pulled away into the wormhole and to a different location.

* * *

**-Three Days Later-**

It is both gladdening and saddening that I manage to take command of Fujin's empire with relative ease, all I had to do was travel to each of his planets and spread the word of his death. Although his planets are in close proximity to each other, it takes me two days to make the trip to all six, having to burrow a Tel'tak after the second world since the rest have no Chappa'ai.

On each of these worlds, I simply present myself to the Jaffa warrior in charge of the planet and they would swear their allegiance to me, some planets may have required a show of power and magic to cow the inhabitants but it was still relatively easy.

During that time, I also take the opportunity to examine my new empire and I'm quite happy with what I find. While he was a minor Goa'uld with a small number of planets, people and ships, Fujin's worlds are rich in mineral deposits. Being so far from the main systems of the galaxy, his planets have yet to be completely mined dry leaving me with plenty of raw resources to work with.

There aren't many people to work the mines however, the largest world only having a population of sixty-two thousand six hundred and thirty eight, small compared to other Goa'uld worlds. The slaves on all the worlds are highly malnourished and overworked, I can't force them back to work in such conditions and I don't plan to. Which is why I'm having Fujin's great food stores and palaces raided on each world and deposited to each household, allowing them to regain their strength.

Within two days, I have full control of Fujin's six worlds, including eight Ha'tak, thirty Al'kesh, fifty Tel'tak and over a thousand Death Gliders.

My empire is off to a slow but productive start.

* * *

On the beginning of the third day, I make a small trip back to Anetem, it's time to deal with the Quantum Mirror.

Originally, I planned to ward the area around the mirror in order to keep its existence hidden and secret like the one in my original reality but with the nature of this reality, any wards I erect will only last a few hours at best and that's assuming they could even draw enough initial power to deploy. My next plan was to move the mirror but I have nowhere to put it right now, honestly, this desolate and abandoned world is the best place to hide such an artifact but I really don't want to leave it out in the open like this.

That leaves me with my third option, hiding it.

In the end, it only takes me a few minutes to hide the mirror, somewhere simple but unexpected. I simply wave my hand and the ground beneath the mirror splits open, dropping it over fifty feet below ground, another wave closes the earth up around it.

For now it's fine right here, I'll come back for it when I have the time and a safe place to store it.

* * *

Passing through Tanako once more, I am met with quite a sight, the people within the village seem to be more lively and healthy than the last time I was here. In the distance, I can see what is left of the palace as it's slowly torn down by the people, the raw materials being stockpiled for future use.

Taiyu is the biggest planet within my empire with a population of just over sixty-two thousand Humans and Jaffa. The other five planets in my empire, Jaipur, Haikuu, Lii, Raini and Taiyuan have populations between twelve thousand and thirty thousand inhabitants. In total, my new empire is composed of just under two hundred and thirty-six thousand inhabitants, not much in the way of numbers but it's a start.

With the food raided from Fujin's stores, the people can start rebuilding their lives and in a few weeks time they will be healthy enough to return to work, mining the rich mineral deposits that keep this small empire running.

Meanwhile, I've had Surei conference with the various leaders of my worlds and the majority of my military forces are all gathered together on their respective planets, awaiting my planned address. From my position in Tanako, I can see several Ha'taks orbiting the planet from space while much of desert is dotted with Al'kesh, Tel'taks and Death Gliders.

In total, Fujin's army numbers just over fifteen thousand Jaffa, as the average human is physically inferior to a Jaffa, they are used as slaves while the Jaffa make up the military force. Sure, there's a mix of men and women but all are Jaffa, I plan to change that as I know that humans can be very useful when it comes to waging war.

* * *

Finished with my survey of the planet, I flicker across the desert and appear beside my familiar, who seems to be rather upset with me. Salem is being held by Mina, who actually jumps and screams when I appear out of thin air, and he has been freshly washed and groomed.

I ignore the different warriors that startle at the scream and study my familiar, trying not to crack up and laugh out loud. His fur has been washed and combed, giving it a nice sleek look. Around his neck is an emerald and diamond studded gold collar, most likely pilfered from Fujin's stores, and around one of his legs is a small golden bracelet with a motif of cats carved into it.

_'Well, someone looks nice.'_ I say in an amused tone, trying my hardest not to laugh.

**'You little asshole!'** He shouts back angrily, he's been trying to reach me for the last few days but I've kept my end of the link closed. Now however, I have it wide open as I send my amusement across.

_'You look ridiculous.'_ I say, keeping my expression blank while I'm laughing internally. _'Is that lavender I smell?'_

**'Do you have any idea what these women have done to me?'** He shouts angrily, leaping from Mina's startled arms with his claws outstretched.

I catch him midair with a levitation charm and he struggles for a few seconds before stopping, slumping over in defeat.

**'So many baths.'** He whispers shuddering.

_'Oh, you'll get over it.'_ I reply with a chuckle. _'You look quite fancy.'_

**'I will have my revenge!'**

_'Yeah, yeah.'_

"Mina, you have done well with Salem." I say, returning him to the girl, who takes him nervously.

"Some of the other women helped as well," She says in a low tone. "It was an honor to serve, my lord."

I nod and turn my attention to the others in the desert, surrounding me are the six that I have chosen as my personal guard, the rest of the forces are arranged in even and organized rows, standing at ease but prepared to act at a moment notice. I'm sure it's the same on all the other worlds, I'm not able to see them but based on the orb that Surei is placing at my feet, I can assume they can see my image projected from the Vo'cume projectors at each gathering location.

_**"Jaffa, Kree!"**_ I shout, my voice echoing as it is enhanced magically.

They snap to attention, awaiting my orders, a loud thump ringing out as hundreds of fists impact with metal chest armor.

**_"Form up into squads."_** I command, preferring to deal with small squads rather than one large mob, but I'm met with confused expressions.

This actually causes me to sigh out loud, how could Fujin allow his men into battle without proper experience? Oh yeah, he didn't care about whether they lived or died. Sighing once more, I draw on my magic and a rise into the air, floating above them on a large cloud of sand. The Jaffa stare in shock and awe, some even dropping to their knees in worship but a few barked out commands has them moving quickly.

Drawing on my army experience, I form them into small and manageable squads, giving them some semblance of order. Based on the reports that Surei is receiving on a small communication orb, the same is being done at every other location though it is sloppier than it is under my direct command, mainly because they don't have the same numbers to work with. It will take me a while to train them all up to my satisfaction but once that is accomplished, I will have fifteen thousand warriors to pass on their training as the army grows, making things easier as time passes.

By my calculations, Taiyu seems to have the largest percentage of my new army. Once they are all formed up to my specifications, I have a total of six units divided into fourteen squads with each squad containing one hundred Jaffa standing in ranks of ten by ten, eighty-four hundred warriors in total. I do have extras left over however, forty-six in total with the six being my first prime and my personal guard.

With forty extra men and women, I decide to expand my guard and place them all under Surei's command much to their excited surprise, these will serve as my elite soldiers. Although my empire is small compared to that of the Goa'uld, I plan for it to grow and expand in the future, I don't want to start my conquest too early with badly trained forces and end up wiped out by a stronger force.

Especially since I have other side projects to work on, namely my own training and my quest for immortality.

That's why I'm going to put my time with the United States Rangers to good use and personally train these soldiers, the standard training is normally three months of intense training, I'm going to extend it to six months of hellish training; after all, the genetically engineered super soldiers should be able to handle it.

Having quite a bit of free time while slowly traveling through space the last three days, I've designed and scrapped close to a dozen training plans as well as general ideas for my army, in the end I settled on a plan that I'll be implementing in the near future. The basic structure of my army will constructed of six general divisions, those that I expect to be the most important.

The first division is the Basic Infantry. While every soldier in my army will receive general training with staff weapons, Zat'nik'tel, close combat fighting and any other weapons I design for their use, those with the aptitude and skill will join the general infantry where they will receive training in basic first aid, small unit tactics and anything else needed to shape them into the unbreakable backbone of my empire.

The second division will consist of the Medics. Any soldiers that show aptitude for healing and first aid, or even a dislike of violence and fighting, will join the second division. Each will receive advanced training in first aid as well as infusions of Naquadah into their bloodstreams, allowing them to use the Goa'uld healing devices. As Heka is known as a god of healing and wellness, this division will fit right in with my new identity.

The third division will be the Snipers. Currently basic Goa'uld ground tactics involve throwing infantry at each other and hoping for the best, sure there are a few strategies employed but they haven't had much need to change in several millenia, I plan to introduce them to long range warfare, snipers will bring a new facet to future warfare and I'm excited to see where it goes.

The fourth division will consist of Technicians and Engineers. Sure, it will completely flaunt Goa'uld policy but I plan on educating my forces on the functions of the many technologies they have access to, and I'm not talking about the basic education they receive now, I expect members of this division to have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of all technologies they use. With a team of technicians and engineers on every Ha'tak, there will be less of a chance of losing vessels when the problem could be easily fixed.

The five division will be comprised of Pilots and Drivers. Members of this division will receive the proper training required to pilot various forms of space craft, as well as the land based vehicles I plan on building. By incorporating land based vehicles into my army, I'll be able to defend my planets with greater ease or move quickly and undetected in enemy territory, giving me an advantage that my opponents currently lack.

The final division will be composed of the Officers. Soldiers of this division will be those that show an aptitude and have received expert training in the fields of leadership, tactics and strategy, they will be the ones that coordinate my armies, allowing there to be a clear cut chain of command. This will allow myself and my First Prime to delegate certain tasks and with an established chain of command, the soldiers will work extra hard in the hopes of earning a promotion, especially as there will now be more than a single position for them to work towards.

Regardless of my long term planning, this will all take quite a long time. Before I can accomplish my goals, I need to provide fifteen thousand men and women with training, build factories and space docks to construct my fleet, all while continuing with my own personal projects.

It will take several years but it can be done, and today, I take the first step.

* * *

**_"I, am Heka, God of Life, Magic and Protector of Mortals. As you have all come to hear, _****_I have slain the false god Fujin and have claimed his domain as my own._**" I announce, my enhanced voice reaching even the farthest man with ease. **_"Unlike Fujin and his ilk, I am not Goa'uld, the Goa'uld are nothing but false gods, they are demons and sorcerers that have used your beliefs and legends to enforce their false divinity."_**

With that, I begin my tale on the Goa'uld and their true nature, much to the shock and outrage of my captive audience. It's easier than I expected to convince them of the truth but after years of mistreatment and cruelty at Fujin's hands, they are more than willing to believe. I also make sure to use the word demon and sorcerer whenever I speak of the Goa'uld, legends of Heka have always spoken of him coming into existence to protect mortals from angry gods, jealous ghosts, evil demons and sorcerers who were all thought to cause illness, accidents, poverty and infertility.

While I speak, I also make sure to stress the difference between myself and the Goa'uld, such as their reliance on their technology and hand devices while I carry no such objects on me. I explain to them the true nature of the Goa'uld's miraculous powers, while displaying my own inexplicable abilities. Sure there were a few doubts as many thought me a fake as well, using hidden technology like their Goa'uld oppressor in order to trick them but they quickly shut up when I display a power that can only be attributed to a true god, creation of life.

Well, to be honest, it's just a simple use of transfiguration to turn a nearby rock into a Mastadge, a large creature that inhabits many worlds belonging to the Goa'uld. I even make sure to slow down the transfiguration, allowing them to see it happen stage by stage rather than in a sudden flash that can be faked with technology. That little display is more than enough to silence all doubts no Goa'uld has ever displayed this power, creating life with a simple wave of the hand is not something that can be so easily faked.

With my opposition denounced, I move on to the second stage of all changes in regime, making promises.

**_"The Goa'uld would see that you all remain weak, they would see you starve, living uneducated of the great wonders of the galaxy. I can not allow that."_ **I announce, my magic swirling to life around me for effect as I float high above them. **_"It is my duty to defeat the false gods, to slay the demons and cast them into the very pits they crawled from, it is a duty that I willingly accept."_**

A round of cheers rises up at this, the word 'Heka' shouted over and over again.

**_"However, I cannot do this on my own, the Goa'uld are many and even a god can fall beneath the might of many opponents, as I did when I last stood against the Goa'uld." _**I continue, bringing a fearful silence to the gathered crowd, all of them wondering how I can possibly defeat the Goa'uld if I've failed once before. **_"A temporary fall it may be, for no god can truly die, but many have suffered beneath the Goa'uld while I recovered. That is why I appear before you today, for it is with your help that I can bring an end to the tyranny of the demons." _**

That brings back some cheer, now it's no longer an impossible goal, all they have to do to defeat the demons is follow my lead.

**_"It shall not be easy, the journey to a future free of _****_demonic influence _**will take hard work and perseverance but so long as you remain loyal and ever faithful, you shall receive the bright and glorious future that you so rightfully deserve!" I continue, posing dramatically and flaring my golden aura for further effect. _**"Follow me as your god and we can accomplish out goals, I will teach and train you, I will return to you what the Goa'uld have stolen. The heavens will tremble at your might and we shall sweep across this galaxy, ending the tyranny of the Goa'uld and bringing enlightenment to the oppressed masses.**_"

The shouts increase in fervor as they cheer my title over and over, the word 'Heka' resounding throughout the desert.

Strangely enough, the more they worship me, the stronger I seem to grow, my magic actually seems to be increasing with each shout. The increase in power is extremely small, so small that I wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't have such an intimate connection with my magic but it's definitely there. With my speech being broadcast to all six planets, every inhabitant hearing my words and cheering my name, I can actually feel my power resonating with their belief. It's a small growth but a noticeable one nonetheless, is this why Dumbledore and Voldemort were so powerful? With their respective subjects empowering them with the power of belief, what did that mean for me as the Boy-Who-Lived, is this why I was more powerful than magical children my age?

Most importantly of all, if close to two hundred and forty thousand people can empower me like this, what will happen when my empire spreads across the galaxy? What will the belief of over a billion people do to me? I have no clue right now but I can't wait to find out.

**_"Until the end of the Goa'uld and even past then we shall remain bound, the god Heka and his faithful subjects."_** I shout, wracking by brain at light speeds for the correct name to end my speech with. A spark of brilliance provides it and a devilish grin crosses my face, thank you pop culture for your entertaining ideas **_"From this day forth we are the Legion, for we are many and nothing will slow inevitable our advance, nothing shall stop us as we march forth and bring the Goa'uld to heel."_**

Cheers of 'Heka' and 'Legion' mix together as I float high in the air, empowered by the beginnings of my empire.

* * *

A/N: Right, that's the start of Harry's empire, I hope you all liked it. I tried to keep the speeches to a minimum and not make them too cheesy but I may have failed lol.

There is no time difference between the HPverse and the SGverse, so it's 1991 in both realities, this means Harry has just over four years until the fall of Ra and the beginning of SG1. Next chapter will contain a time skip, roughly three or four years so I won't drag this out too much, a majority of his plans involve improving his small empire, so that he has a basis to improve other worlds as he continues on. I'll mostly summarize the growth as I continue on my way to 1996.


	8. Industrialization

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**_"Text."_** - God voice.

**A.N: A lot of new technologies and what not in this chapter, unlike with my previous post, I wont be going into explicit detail on each item. I'll only be providing general details as well as basic information, I don't want to drown you all in data that wont make all that much difference in the future.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Industrialization**

**-General P.O.V-**

Within the higher realm, a plane of existence far beyond mortal comprehension, beings of great power congregate.

_**"There is a disturbance in our galaxy, an aberration that does not belong."**_

_**"I sense him as well, his power grows by the day, drawing upon the worship of his few followers."**_

_**"Is he one of them? The dissenters?"**_

_**"No, he is not of the Ori but there is a relation, he is of Alteran blood, diluted through mixture with the Terrans."**_

_**"A descendant with the power? That is impossible, we took steps to ensure that this would not happen, he may have the blood but the power should be blocked."**_

_** "Unless, one of our own has assisted him."**_

_**"None would dare, not even the banished ones would do such a thing, not after the debacle with the half-breed Anubis."**_

_**"You are correct, none of our own has assisted him, you all may have missed it but I was watching as he appeared, he is not of this reality. He came from the Quantum Mirror, from a reality where the descendants have access to their own power."**_

_**"The fools! Why would they allow such a thing to happen, are the realities so different that they can allow it?"**_

_**"Perhaps so, perhaps their universe never faced the schism, never saw the rise of the Ori. They may not have had any reason to block their descendants, we have no way of knowing."**_

_**"Very well, what is to be done about the intruder? He is not of this reality, can we interfere?"**_

_**"No! Not yet at least, we must obey the covenant. He is powerful, yes, but not as powerful as we or the Ori."**_

_**"We cannot allow him to grow stronger, he may not be powerful yet but given time he shall grow to be a threat, both with his power and his growing empire."**_

_**"I concur, what if he ascends beyond the mortal plane? The Ori will sense his ascension and make a play for his allegiance should this happen, giving them a foothold into our galaxy."**_

_**"Should that ever come to pass, we can deal with him personally, we are many and he is one. He can not stand against our might."**_

_**"Very well, are we all in agreement?"**_

_**"Agreed."**_

* * *

**-Three Months Later. Harry's P.O.V-**

My first week as god and ruler of my own empire is not as glamorous as one would expect, there is a lot of work that needs to be put into forging this empire and nothing will get done if I just laze about.

The first task on my to-do list was creating a training camp for my forces and getting my military on it's way, this is quite simple as there's a lot of free space on each world and plenty of building materials, I may not be able to transfigure or conjure the materials due to the nature of this reality but I can easily use my magic to build what I need.

Finding out that my brand of teleportation works to travel from planet to planet, it only takes me five days to flicker to each world and create a satisfactory training camp, this is made easier by the Jaffa already having some training equipment and a barracks of their own so I don't have to build everything.

Once the training camps were set up, I start my Jaffa on the basic training plans I'd created, a lot of it is simple and repetitive so I don't have to watch over them at all times and can delegate to Surei and the rest of my guard. In fact, the only ones that I actually had to teach were the forty-six members of my guard, who were divided up and spread throughout my six worlds. I would spend two hours on each world every evening, training my guards personally and passing them a large chunk of the knowledge they require through Legilimency, everything they learn and digest during the night is then used to train the general forces the next day.

I'm also pleased to note that my projected six months of hellish training have been cut down to just two months for the average Jaffa soldier, due to their genetic enhancements they don't need much of the physical conditioning and exercise that I had planned, only a polishing of their old skills and the teaching of some new ones. That's only in regards to the basic training however, a lot of the advanced training that I have planned will still take several months to complete but this definitely cuts down on the time required to train a Jaffa soldier, human soldiers will take at least two months more to train.

The basic training that I provide teaches the basics of first aid, piloting, leadership, close-quarters combat, weapon maintenance and use, the end of which consists of a grueling evaluation presided over by me and Surei. This is not a very easy task as the two of us have to evaluate over fifteen thousand soldiers in a short amount of time, even cheating by evaluating whole squads at a time doesn't do much to cut down on time required, it's a difficult job but it has to be done.

Once their basic training was completed, the soldiers were all split up based on aptitude and given truly specialized training in regards to their allotted divisions, each planet serving as a separate base of operations for a each division. My guards however, aren't allowed the small mercy of specialization, they are to serve as my personal guard, meaning they have to be the best of the best, the elite. While the general forces receive the entirety of their training from my guards in specific areas of study, the guards themselves receive advanced training in all areas from me personally.

The training is tough and grueling, much tougher than the training I myself received as a Ranger, which is probably why they all seem to hate me after the first day. I'm sure they'll praise my name when that training saves their lives and wins our future battles, until then they can complain all they want, just as long as they excel in their training.

* * *

By only training my guards, using Legilimency to cheat and delegating the training of the general forces, I have some free time to work on my own projects. I have three personal projects at this time: growing stronger, achieving immortality and expanding the technologies of my empire.

The first is the simplest of the three, since I'm able to refine my own skills while training my men, getting myself back into tiptop shape and polishing any forgotten skills. Magically, my power is growing day after day, the more my subjects worship me, the stronger I grow. It may be a very small growth at a time but it is a growth nonetheless, to grow even stronger I simply have to expand my empire and gain more subjects, something I plan on doing regardless.

Secondly, is my search for immortality, which has been put on hold for an undetermined amount of time, I have many ideas on how to reach my goal but I currently have no access to the technologies required to do so. Fujin was a minor Goa'uld, far too low to have access to a Sarcophagus which forced to to switch hosts every century or so, I will have to defeat a stronger Goa'uld and capture their Sarcophagus if I want to go that route. As for the methods used by the Asgard, they are far too powerful and far away to launch an effective attack on in the hopes of raiding their technology, I need to grow more powerful before I can attempt this.

However, while my quest for immortality through technology is currently on hold, I still take the time to look through all of my magical tomes, hoping I missed something the first time around.

As for the modification and creation of my own technologies, it's going far better than I first expected. Fujin had quite a few factories of his own, most of which are only capable of refining the materials that were mined by his slaves, all I have to do is provide a few blueprints to my eager and loyal subjects and they quickly set to work expanding the factories and constructing the basic machines that I need. The task takes just under three months to finish, and while I could have completed it faster on my own with magic, I choose not to in order to give my subjects a feeling of accomplishment in the growth of this empire.

In total, I have one major factory and five minor ones on each of my planets, the minor factories are basically refineries capable of minor construction while the major ones are used for advanced constructions. Coupled with two space docks that belonged to Fujin, I have enough workshops to begin building, outfitting and expanding my army and space fleet.

The work is slow going at first but I have plenty of raw materials to use after tearing down Fujin's extravagant palaces, he had one built on each world and seemed to like changing homes every few months, and raiding his various storehouses. My pool of available resources rises even more when my subjects return to their jobs at the mines, I've upgraded their mining tools, instituted a basic payroll and improved work conditions so they are no longer working under unsafe conditions. In fact, some are actually glad to work in the mines, anything to improve this empire we're creating and show their gratefulness to their god and liberator

With these improved factories and a supportive workforce, I'm now able to create a few hundred weapons and armor as well as several dozen vehicles and spacecraft on a monthly basis. One factory is only able to produce roughly fifty different weapons in a day, not a lot when compared to the three thousand plus guns produced each day in the United State on earth, but it's enough for my small army and will suffice until bigger, better factories can be constructed.

With the factories creating the smaller parts, my two space docks are capable of producing a dozen smaller vessels and a single Ha'tak on a monthly basis but as I lack the manpower to field all those vessels, I don't have any Ha'tak in production at the moment, only the smaller vessels. I suppose this is the reason Fujin only had eight Ha'tak to his name, they use up a large amount of resources and there is little point if you don't have the men to crew them, I wont have the required manpower for another Ha'tak for a few more moths and that's only because a large number of my human subjects have joined my growing military.

Even when they all graduate, there will only be enough of them to crew two new Ha'tak, it would be simpler to just kill another Goa'uld and commandeer their vessels.

Hmm, there's an idea

* * *

On the weapons and armor front of my army, things are going quite well, I was able to use the knowledge stolen from Fujin and my own knowledge of Earth's weapons to modify a few of the standard Goa'uld weapons in order to make them far more effective and deadly.

The first to be modified was the Ma'tok Staff used by all Jaffa. The standard staff weapon is large and clunky, it's a weapon created to terrorize in a time where the enemy was still using stone, wood and weak metals as weapons, because of this it's hard to aim and wholly ineffective outside of its seventy meter range. While the weapon has some cultural significance and familiarity for the Jaffa, it's a tool of the Goa'uld so they are more than willing to trade it in for the superior weapons created by their new god.

Taking apart one of the staff weapons, I managed to modify it and rework it into something that's far more effective for waging war, it strains the boundaries of Fujin's experienced knowledge to do so but I was able to compensate where his general knowledge failed, the reworked weapon is something I've named a Plasma Assault Rifle.

As the name suggests, it's an assault rifle much like those used on earth, it's even modeled after my favorite weapon from my army days, the G11 Assault Rifle. The Rifle is similar to the G11 in both size and appearance, except my rifles have a slightly wider barrel and the magazine is replaced with a Liquid Naquadah Core. Compared to the Ma'tok Staff, the Rifle with it's built-in scope is far easier to aim and it can fire over fifty bolts of super heated plasma in a minute, far more than a standard staff weapon. By condensing the released plasma into a thin, Star Wars-esque blaster bolt, I've increased the effective range of my soldiers to one hundred and fifty meters.

While the weapon can be further improved by using solid ammunition, I have neither the time, facilities or inclination to produce the several million bullets I would need. Plasma rounds are effective and cost efficient, requiring a simple Liquid Naquadah Core to power them, meaning less resupplies needed and my soldiers would never be captured or killed due to a lack of ammo.

* * *

With the rifles designed and under construction, I moved on to the next weapon used by the Goa'uld, the Zat'nik'tel.

Function wise, the Zat'nik'tel is a pretty decent weapon, it's mostly meant to be used to stun and capture but also serves as a way to dispose of corpses during stealth missions. Because of this, I left it functions alone and only reworked the frame so it's shaped more like a handgun than a snake, only the Goa'uld would be vain enough to shape their weapons like their true forms.

With it's new shape and built-in iron sights, the Stun Pistol as I've decided to name it, is far more accurate than its previous incarnation.

* * *

The last two weapons are creations of my own design, although the first is another modification on the standard staff weapon.

It's another Plasma Rifle like the first, except this one is built similar to the M25 Sniper Rifle, the same rifle I used during my short stint in Kuwait. The barrel is smaller than the original, condensing the energy bolts to such a degree that only ten shots can be fired before the weapon needs to cool down but this is an acceptable trade off, as the condensed energy can travel over a thousand meters before losing strength.

It is an extremely accurate, long range weapon that will take Goa'uld warfare to new heights, in my favor of course.

* * *

The final weapon is quite simple compared to the other three, it's a basic combat knife used for close quarters fighting.

From hilt to tip, the knife is about twelve inches long and sharpened to a point, I created it as a replacement for the melee capabilities of the staff weapon since my rifles are unfit for melee combat, the knives will give my Jaffa the edge they need should they ever engage in close quarters fighting.

Of course, they aren't just simple knives, each blade contains a small Liquid Naquadah battery that powers a miniature engine in the hilt. When activated, the engine causes the blade to powerfully vibrate, increasing the cutting edge of the weapon to incredible degrees. Another Star Wars-esque weapon, the Vibroknife as I'm calling it, is capable of cutting through most metals with ease and renders standard Jaffa armor useless.

Without a doubt, my empire is one of the most advanced of the Goa'uld empires, that wont mean much however, if the Goa'uld ever lay their grubby hands on my weapons and manage to reverse engineer the technology.

Which is why each weapon is built with a self-destruct fail safe, one based on magic rather than technology that can be easily disabled.

* * *

The standard weapons kit comes with one Rifle, a Stun Pistol and a Vibroknife, the Sniper Rifle only going to those in the Sniper division. Plain and simple, if someone without my sigil and the spells tied to it tries to use any one of the weapons I've created, a specially crafted rune with its own store of magic would activate, reducing the weapon to subatomic particles.

This prevents my weapons from being used by the opposition, even trying to just crack open the casing or perform a detailed scan on the weapon is enough to trip the defenses. It's time consuming providing the power for each and every rune as they come off the production line, but until I find a replacement method or these weapons become obsolete, it'll have to do.

* * *

My Jaffa aren't the only ones that receive an equipment upgrade however, I've also upgraded my own tools as well, namely my invisibility cloak and wand.

For the wand, I simply disposed of Dumbledore's wand by dropping it into a forge and replaced it with a new one, giggling with glee as I imagine the look on his face should he ever find out. The new wand is basically just a thin rod of Naquadah, roughly eleven and a half inches long with a thick handle to hold onto, various runes with a plethora effects carved onto its surface. Although the Naquadah in my blood amplifies and focuses my power, using wand grants me far greater control and finesse, as well as an additional power boost from the Naquadah.

The invisibility cloak is a simpler item to modify, I might not have any use for it as my magic can replicate is effects, but its a family heirloom and I have a strange need to keep it around. When the cloak was originally created, it had the bare minimum of Naquadah threads stitched to it, the mineral being nonexistent on Earth. With an abundance of Naquadah however, I'm able to modify the cloak and add more threads, increasing is lifespan and power.

It because of these two items that I'm struck with another brilliant idea, if Naquadah can amplify my magic, then why can't I use it to create wards and amplify the other branches of magic that are weakened in this realm. Sadly, while it's a good idea, it was a partial failure. Using a ball of Naquadah as a wardstone, I can now make wards and use runes as I please but the Naquadah can only boost the lifespan by a week at most, it's an improvement but not by much.

It does however, allow me to use the self-destruct mechanism in my weapons, the Naquadah being able to store my magic almost indefinitely until the rune is activated.

* * *

With my weapons being constructed and shipped out by the dozens each week, I focus my attention on my vehicles, namely the land based ones as I can't provide much improvements to the spacecraft with my current knowledge. Neither Fujin or Susanoo were knowledgeable about spacecraft and my own knowledge is insufficient in this, I can't do much to improve them at this point in time which is unfortunate as a majority of future battles will take place in space.

The first vehicle I designed is a variation on the Army's Jeeps, and while my version is similar in appearance, it lacks the wheels used by Earth's vehicles. Instead, I've turned it into a hovercraft powered with a Liquid Naquadah engine but rather than floating along like traditional hovercraft, the Patrol Vehicle can reach up to one hundred and twelve miles per hour.

As such speeds can be dangerous for both Jaffa and humans, the Patrol Vehicle is built with both an inertia dampener and a shield generator, allowing it to easily move at high speeds and shrug off light damage. The vehicles shields have also been designed to be one-directional, as the jeep only has two front seats with the backseats being replaced with a mounted staff cannon, allowing a soldier to stand in the back and manually fire the weapon.

* * *

The second vehicle is an Armored Personnel Carrier, a heavily armored vehicle modeled after the Earthen vehicles of the same name. While thin and squat enough to easily pass through the Chappa'ai, the Carrier is capable of carrying one driver and thirty passengers, forty if pushed.

Also powered by a Liquid Naquadah engine, the Carrier floats a couple meters above the ground but due to its armor plating and weight, its speed maxes out at one hundred miles per hour. Equipped with a shield generator, a cloaking device and a mounted staff cannon, the Carrier is capable of moving quickly and safely through enemy territory.

* * *

The final vehicle is the Plasma Tank, a large, bulky, armored tank modeled after Earth's M1 Abrams tank. Powered by two Liquid Naquadah engines and crewed by three people, the Plasma Tank is capable of laying siege on a Goa'uld stronghold.

While the vehicle is capable of moving at fast speeds while hovering, I've also built it with treads allowing it to travel over all sorts of terrain. It is also equipped with power shields, a basic sensor system and three improved staff cannons, two for direct combat and one on a swivel that allows it to act as artillery fire. If piloted correctly, the Plasma Tank is even capable of shooting down Death Gliders, Al'kesh and other low flying spacecraft.

* * *

Each type of vehicle is built and assembled in a different major factory on a separate world, this takes up a lot of construction space as I have a limited number of factories but luckily, many of the parts used in their construction can also be used in the construction of my spacecraft. As I have no land vehicles when compared to my space fleet, I have a large number of land vehicles commissioned, building up the numbers before turning my focus to other matters.

I also made sure to design all three vehicles so that they'e just small enough to pass through a Chappa'ai, allowing me to easily deploy them for a ground assault and granting my soldiers an advantage should they need to hold and defend a gate. Much like with my weapons, only someone with my mark can operate one of these vehicles, should anyone else try to drive one or crack one of them open, the vehicles are rigged up to explode violently.

I take great pride in my inventions and I have no plans of allowing the Goa'uld to steal them.

* * *

Even though I'm busy with other matters, it only took me two weeks to design my weapons and vehicles, mostly because they are just modified versions of technologies that I'm already intimately familiar with. Besides that, all I had to do was put together the blueprints, the actual building was delegated to my First Prime and the foreman of each factory. Making Surei my First Prime is also turning out to be a great decision, he is a very efficient man, able to handle his intense training and the tasks I assign with ease. It probably helps that I forced him to take on two young assistants, they keep him organized and really help to lessen his workload.

Despite being independent for much of my life, I tend to delegate most of my work to Surei and my other guards, there's just too much for me to handle on my own and I've learned to trust them to handle most tasks without me micromanaging. The work, while important, is also a bit of a distraction, I had more important issues to focus on, namely the Jaffa themselves or the symbiote stuffed into their guts to be specific.

* * *

Each Jaffa, at the age of ten is genetically altered to function as an incubator for Goa'uld young, this makes the Prim'ta more compatible to take a future host while granting the Jaffa a few benefits. Although the Jaffa is granted enhanced abilities and an extended lifespan, the symbiote completely supplants the Jaffa's natural immune system, causing death should the symbiote ever be remove.

On the other hand, Jaffa have also been altered to require a Prim'ta around puberty, if the implantation didn't take place, the child would die from a failing immune system within days. The main problem however, is that the symbiote needs to be replaced with new a larva every seven years or the Jaffa will die a painful death, I don't have tens of thousands of Goa'uld larva lying about.

As such, I needed to find a new alternative for my Jaffa or my forces will be non-existent in a matter of months.

Which is why I'm currently holed up within the potions lab in my wizarding tent, a large Naquadah wardstone powering its enchantments, working on a cure. It's actually easier than it sounds, potions simply involve the mixing and stirring of specific ingredients at specific times, pretty much like cooking which I've been doing from a young age.

Despite my lack of interest in the subject, it's quite simple when you think about it.

_'Ugh, why is this so difficult?' _I curse, throwing down my potions text.

I set aside my box of ingredients and turn to a separate desk, where a Goa'uld symbiote lays, sliced open to be examined.

_'The chemicals the Goa'uld secretes are similar to some of my potions materials but I can't mix any of them together, some are far too volatile for that.'_ I muse, casting a few more diagnostic spells on the dead symbiote.

Ironically enough, the initial task I set out to do is actually the easiest part of my my current predicament. Finding a way to repair the Jaffa's immune system was actually really simple, so simple that I found the answer after just thirty minutes of searching. All I had to do was brew a cauldron of Igor's Incredible Immunizer, a simple to make and widely used potion in my home reality.

The Immunizer is a potion given to all wizarding children at birth, with muggleborns receiving it during their first year. It is this potion that gives witches and wizards their immunity to mundane diseases, infections, cancers and even radiation, with my Jaffa having a weak immune system, this potion would bring them up to average or above average at best.

While the Immunizer is a cure, I still want my Jaffa to retain their enhanced abilities, something that would not happen if the symbiote is removed, hence my current problem. Currently, I'm trying to brew a potion with all the bonuses of a Goa'uld symbiote and none of the weaknesses, which, needless to say, is very difficult to do.

_'How can I combine all these ingredients without blowing myself up?'_ I muse, studying the ten vials before me_. 'I could try Edgard's Equalizing Elixir but that only works with seven mixtures at the most, I'll need at least ten to mimic the Goa'uld secretion... OH!'_

A wide grin crosses my face as I'm stuck with sudden inspiration, something I really should have considered before.

_'Why mimic the secretion when I can just use the real thing.'_

Turning back to my workstation, I grab a vial full of the Goa'uld fluid and my cauldron of the Immunizer. The Immunizer is quickly heated to a usable degree, the clear liquid bubbling within minutes, looking like nothing more than a pot of boiling water. I pour in the Goa'uld fluid and the potion changes instantly, turning from a thin, clear liquid into a thick, viscous, yellow mixture. With the color change, the potion begins to froth violently, a clear sign of an impending explosion.

As quick as I can, I pick up a vial of Everlasting Elixir and add it to the mix, further agitating the volatile mixture. Everlasting Elixir is a potion invented long ago for scrupulous potion brewers, it soon became one of the most famous and widespread potions in history. When one drop is added to any potion, the elixir would increase the potency of the potion, making its effects permanent. If a second drop is added to the potion, the elixir would magically expand the potion and the vial or cauldron it is in, making it endless. **(Before anyone claims deus ex machina, this is an actual cannon potion, look it up on the Harry Potter wiki)**

The added elixir makes the potion more volatile, causing it to froth and split angrily, cracks spreading along the cauldron from the strain. Mere seconds before my cauldron can melt or explode, I dump a vial of Edgar's Equalizing Elixir to the mix. Instantly the potion settles, turning into a thin yellow fluid that seems to glow with an inner light.

Equalizing Elixir is a potion used when volatile ingredients need to be mixed together, such as Dragon blood and Erumpent fluid or Phoenix tears and Vampire blood. It allows potions to succeed when they would usually explode, magically preventing volatile ingredients from reacting, which is why one vial is provided with every potions kit. **(Okay, that one i did make up :p)**

Thanks to the elixir, my potion is a success and if this works as I expect, I'll have an endless supply of a permanent cure for my Jaffa.

I just needed a test subject.

I focus inwardly, sending a signal through my link to the many sigils of my subjects, an idea I stole from the Auror Corps badges and Voldemort's Dark Mark.

The sigils are a mix of soul magic and the Protean charm, they are linked to the bearers lifeforce through a form of soul magic, allowing the sigil to draw from the bearers own lifeforce to power the enchantments placed on it. A series of Protean charms links the sigils together, all of them tied together in a specific pattern, including the sigil I've marked on my own chest.

This network of sigils was my first attempt at immortality, trying to extend my own life by draining some lifeforce from my many subjects, had it worked I would have taken a year off each of their lives and increased mine by thousands of years but it was essentially a failure. While I could drain their lifeforce, I couldn't use it to supplement my own, apparently one beings lifeforce isn't compatible with the lifeforce of another and no matter what I did, I couldn't alter the mass of lifeforce to my own frequency.

I did gain the interesting ability to send a summoning through the link, as long as the target is on the same planet as me, so it wasn't too bad.

_'Come.'_ I command, forcing my magic into the link and pinging a link at random.

I'm told the feeling is akin to a slight tingle on their sigil, followed by a mental tug in the correct direction. It's a simple linking charm to me but the Jaffa see it as further sign of my divinity, who am I to dissuade them?

* * *

Ten minutes later, an older Jaffa warrior enters my tent, marveling at the impressive marble and silver decorations of the manor. My magic calls to him through the link, directing him to what is now my throne room. My subjects have offered many times to build me a palace or a temple over the last few months, deciding that a being of my stature requires it.

It had gotten so annoying that I just pulled out my tent and set it up just to shut them up, I might consider having a palace or temple built in my image someday but right now there's too much to do and a palace would be a waste of resources. Still, it served as yet another example of my 'godly powers', fitting a great palace within such a plain looking tent.

"You called my lord?" The Jaffa asks, entering the pitch black throne room and bowing low.

My throne room, which was essentially the manor's study, complete with a great big marble desk and chair, is designed to intimidate and impress any that enter. The room is completely dark, with no lights or windows, keeping them from seeing anything other than the two golden circles of my eyes. The only source of light comes from the door the Jaffa has entered through, filling the room with just enough light to see the massive Nundu skull hanging from the roof, this and my glowing eyes add the right amount of awe and wonder while the dark room keeps them intimidated, wondering what is hidden in the shadows.

It also helps that Salem is prowling around the dark room and making noise, hiding from **'That cursed woman and her bubbly baths' **as he put it.

**_"Yes, Raj'ka, your services are required."_** I reply, plucking the name from his mind, it sees to impress my subjects when I know their names without having met them before.

"How may I serve you today Lord Heka?" He asks, remaining bowed in respect.

_**"I have recently created a mixture, one that will remove the Jaffa's dependency on the Goa'uld symbiote."**_ I explain, standing from the desk and walking towards him. _**"However, it requires a test to ensure that the mixture works appropriately."**_

I can see the apprehension clear on his expression, even in the darkness of the room, if this mixture fails there's a high chance he'll die a very painful death.

"I live to serve, Lord Heka." He replies nonetheless, his expression returning to the stoicism of a Jaffa.

"Thank you." I say, placing a hand on his stomach, he shudders at the touch, my hands cold and clammy from the long days holed up in my potions lab.

There is a tearing sound and a pain-filled scream as I magically tear the Goa'uld Prim'ta from within him, it is a young one with roughly three more years until it matures. It makes a keening sound as my magic latches onto it, killing it in a flash of green light. The Jaffa, Raj'ka, has dropped to his knees at this point, his knees weak from the pain and his hands flying to the hole in his abdomen.

I'm quick to draw a vial of the cure and place it to his lips, the potion smells foul yet he drinks it without pause, only grimacing at the foul taste. With that, I take a step back and wait, hoping for a success. The effects are near instantaneous, his blood stops flowing as the wound seals closed, healing as quickly as any other Jaffa would.

I allow a small grin to slip through my mask and cast a series of diagnostic charms, the results are promising. According to the scans, his body is running as normal as always, well normal for a Jaffa, which is well above average for a human. His immune system is better than ever, above average for a human, but low for a witch or wizard. His abilities are above human levels as well, his muscles stronger, bones denser and so on. Lastly, his expected lifespan is increased, going from the one-twenty to one-fifty range of an average Jaffa up to a one sixty to one-eighty range, pretty high but still below the one-eighty to two hundred range of a wizard or witch.

Basically, the potion is a success, he as all of the strengths of his fellow Jaffa but none of the weaknesses.

_'Man, I am a genius.' _I cheer mentally, resisting the urge to hop and skip around.

Despite my early misgivings, potions is turning out to be a useful art, I'm still not going to give it the time of day though, this potion has taken me four days to make, I just don't have the time to waste.

_'Hmm, maybe I should hire a potions master of my own, someone to do all the long tedious work.'_ I wonder, smirking at the look on Snape's face if I ever made him an offer. Still, I should look into an enchanted cauldron or one made of empowered Naquadah, that way I can have my subjects brew basic potions for me.

"How do you feel Raj'ka." I ask the recovered Jaffa in a tone carefully controlled to sound concerned, already knowing the answer.

He's staring at his healed abdomen in shock, the giant X of a Goa'uld pouch completely gone.

"I am well my lord, better than ever." He whispers in wonder. "Thank you my lord, you are truly great."

I nod, my glowing eyes the only sight he can see but their movement conveying the action.

"Do not inform the others of this." I caution, turning around and returning to my desk. "I require time to make sure there are no unwanted side effects."

"Of course, my lord." He replies, still sounding shocked and amazed.

"Very well, report to me if you feel anything strange." I finish, making a note to keep an eye on him for the next few days, the cure will have to be shipped out soon though, there are children turning of age in just a few short months.

Raj'ka bows and leaves the room, the door silently closing behind him. I stand from my desk and exit the room through a separate door, making my way to my personal chambers.

I have been working on a variety of projects for the last four days straight after all, I need some sleep.

* * *

**-Three Months Later-**

Three months later and Raj'ka is still doing well, my diagnostic spells and the Goa'uld healing device all report that he is in tiptop shape and that there are no side effect to the potion. With those results, I declare the cure a success and have it shipped out by the thousands, not that I have much choice as the children will be coming of age within the next few weeks.

It takes three days to have the potions shipped out to every planet of my empire but within hours I feel my power grow, bolstered as my subjects worship my name in thanks.

Ah, it's quite an invigorating feeling.

* * *

**'Ugh, through this thing again?'** Salem groans, eyes narrowed at the Chappa'ai.

_'You don't have to come if you don't want to,'_ I say, grinning mentally. _'You could always stay here.'_

**'And suffer under those evil women?'** He snaps, growling angrily. **'I think not.**

_'Ha ha, it's only a bath Salem, I thought you of all beings would love the attention.'_

**'I'm a cat, I don't require as many bathes as you filthy humans.'** He snaps back, hissing at the memory. **'This is not what I expected when you promised me slaves.'**

_'Technically they aren't slaves, they do get paid after all.'_

**'Semantics.' **he replies, sniffing in annoyance.

Our argument is interrupted when one of my guard, Fal'nor, stops before me and bows.

"The Chappa'ai has been dialed my lord, there are no obstructions on the other side." He announces, bring my attention to the now active Chappa'ai.

**_"Well done, Fal'nor."_** I reply with a thankful smile, slipping into character. **_"Lead the others through, I shall follow behind."_**

"As you command Lord Heka." He replies, bowing once more and stepping over to his squad. Each member of my personal guard controls a small honor guard of their own, consisting of ten Infantry, five Medics, three Snipers and one Junior Officer. This allows them to always have men they call upon for a mission such as the one we are going on today.

While going through Fujin's files, I found an address tied to an unclaimed world close to this system. Fujin had of course sent a scouting team through the gate to survey the world in question but only two had managed to return, bringing news of an abandoned outpost overrun by local beasts, extremely dangerous beasts.

Fujin had planned to send a larger force to the planet, hoping to either tame the beasts or lay claim to the outpost, but I'd showed up before he could organize an attempt. The file had been his most recently added document so it had taken me a while to reach it, once I did, I was very interested in this outpost. The information by the surviving scouts had marked it off as being of neither Goa'uld or Asgard design, meaning it belonged to another race, I was quite interested to find out which race owned it and excited at the possible technologies I could discover.

Which is why I'm making a trip to the world, joined by two squads led by Fal'nor and Tej'oc, I could probably handle things on my own but why take a risk when I can have have forty soldiers at my back. Seeing as two regular Jaffa were able to escape the planet, I'm willing to bet my own forces can handle the beasts on the planet. Although their training is far from complete, this excursion should be enough for me to evaluate their progress, it will also earn them some field experience with their new weapons.

* * *

I exit the Chappa'ai onto a forest world, with greenery and large trees spanning off in every direction, it's a welcome change to the desert wasteland I'd just left behind. While three of my worlds are forested planets, most of my time is spent on Taiyu which is a barren desert, I should see about fixing that, maybe take a gander through my Herbology texts for a solution.

Up above us are three large moons despite it being a bright day and I can see a Ha'tak orbiting the planet, reinforcements should we require them, not that I expect us to. Fal'nor and Tej'oc have already formed their men into a protective circle, weapons held steady and pointed into the forest in every direction, they are doing well so far.

**'Hmm, this place is pretty nice.'** Salem says, looking around the lush forest. **'Better than the desert.'**

_'If it's safe, I'll bring you here for some hunting.'_ I reply, focusing on the mission.

**'As if it matters whether it's safe or not.' **He snorts, shifting into a larger form, the one roughly the size of a horse, before returning to normal and leaping onto my shoulder. **'If anything gets in my way, I'll just step on it.'**

I chuckle and turn to address Fal'nor and Tej'oc, who are awaiting my orders.

"Establish a perimeter around the gate, then deploy a Shield Projector." I command, I don't sense any presences nearby but its better to be safe than sorry. "I'll fly up and look for our target."

They bow and return to their squads, Tej'oc barking orders while Fal'nor dials the gate once more.

The Shield Projectors are a recent invention of mine based off of the Ha'tak shields, they could be deployed on land and would shield a large area, keeping living beings and plasma blasts at bay. The only problem is that they're so big that they can't be carried around by my soldiers, a problem that is easily fixed however, by employing one of my vehicles. The generators as placed inside a Carrier, filling up almost half the machine, which can then drive them through the Chappa'ai and to the target location.

* * *

As the Carrier comes through the gate, I'm standing a hundred feet in the air, my magic solidifying the air particles beneath my feet, an impressive and very difficult technique.

In the distance to the west of our position, I can see some rundown buildings of odd design, the outpost if I'm not mistaken. It seems to be only an hours march away, through the thick, dark, creepy forest...

Yeah, no.

With a flare of my power, my squad of forty Jaffa soon find themselves floating beside me high in the air, this is a simpler trick since all it involves is the Locomotor charm, the only difficulty is holding it on forty targets at once but Occlumency helps in that regard. My Jaffa exclaim in shock and awe, some even shouting out in fright, having never flown unassisted before.

I smirk at them and set off towards the outpost, moving as quickly as I can.

Below us, I hear the faint hum of the shield activating, the driver having already received his orders. It takes a few calculations, far beyond the ability of a regular Goa'uld serving Jaffa, but the driver is able to easily program the machine, creating a shield around the Chappa'ai but having it come to a stop just at the edge of the treeline.

"This is truly wondrous my lord." Tej'oc says as we sail over the forest, his comment echoed by the rest of the squad. "Your powers are truly great."

I smirk but don't reply, basking in the praise as more power flows into me from their worship. The more they believe in my divinity, the more power I gain, this has often led to me performing many magical displays around my subjects just to garner more worship.

* * *

After ten minutes of flight, we land a few meters from the outpost, a strange building if I've ever seen one. It's a large tower like structure in what looks like the beginning of a complex, the inhabitants having left before it was completed. At first, I don't recognize the architectural style but closer inspection reveals a series of circular carvings on the walls, carvings that immediately leap out at me.

This is a Furling outpost, quite a surprise as Furlings were supposedly extinct long before Susanoo traveled through the Mirror, if that was true then this outpost has to be thousands of years old.

_'Crap, any technology here is probably decrepit or was taken when they deserted it.'_ I sigh, feeling disappointed,_ 'I can only hope something was left behind.'_

"Your orders my Lord?" Fal'nor asks from beside me.

I glance around, seeing no wild beasts on the wide open plains surrounding the outpost.

"Your squad will remain outside and keep an eye out for trouble, Tej'oc's squad will enter the building with me." I reply after a moment.

"As you will it, my Lord." He bows backing away.

I set off towards the building, Salem on my shoulder and twenty men at my back, I can only hope something of value is stored within or this would have all been a waste of time.

Surprisingly, many of the materials in the building have been left behind with nothing cleared away at all, if that isn't a sign of trouble, the rust colored splashes on the walls and the decayed bones of small humanoid creatures is.

This outpost wasn't evacuated, it was wiped out.

Whatever did it, killed the few Furlings manning the base and devoured the corpses, at least that's what the bite marks on the decayed bones seem to say. Despite the time that has passed, the tower and bones are still in good condition, only a layer of dust to signify the passing of time.

Strange.

"Keep an eye out." I mutter to my squad, although the sunlight illuminates the entire place, there could still be hidden danger. "Something killed these creatures and it or its descendants could still be in here."

Their grips on their weapons are tighter but they keep the weapons steady, their eyes sweeping the area with the ease of long training, it's good to see that my training had been put to good use, very good use. These Jaffa are no longer warriors that rush headlong into battle to die with honor, they're trained soldiers, cold, calculating and ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Sniff, I'm so proud.

Eventually, we reach the computer core of the tower, having found nothing else of interest in the building. The computer is of the data crystal variety, just like the stolen one found in Fujin's palace, and there are already two full data crystals and one empty. My guess is that the empty one was uploaded into the computer before the attack occurred, not that it matters as the computers and crystals are in perfect order, even after years left alone.

A problem turns up when I skim the information on the computer as its contents are downloaded onto the blank crystal, it's all written in the Furling language. Like the language of the Ancients, Furling is a language that I know few words from, the Goa'uld barely ever encountered them or their technologies as they were believed to come from another galaxy like the Asgard.

It will take a long time to decipher these files but I'm already interested in the few words I can recognize, namely Clone, Asgard, Beaming and Transport, I can only hope it contains what I think it does. If so, I would not only have new, superior technology to experiment with but immortality would be within my grasp.

* * *

A final check through the tower by my men and I reveals nothing else of value, so I decide it's time to leave. It's as we're making our way to the door that the first of the shouting reaches us, something is happening outside.

Tej'oc barks an order and the squad rushes for the door, their rifles held high and at the ready, I follow behind them, lazily taking my time. When I finally make it to the doors, I'm met with a surprising sight, my Jaffa are facing off against strange creatures that are pouring out of the forest to the east by the dozen, strange creatures indeed.

_'What the hell are those?'_ I wonder, staring at the strange beasts that are rushing the tower. My best description of them is a raptor, a dinosaur that went extinct on earth millions of years ago, except with fur.

That's precisely what they look like, raptors with fur.

Rather than the leathery skin of a dinosaur, they're covered in long, shaggy, white fur, they'd make for a funny sight if it wasn't for the long claws, sharp teeth and spiked tail. There's also the fact that there are literally hundreds of them pouring out of the forest, rushing us at incredible speeds. Luckily, my Jaffa keep their cool and stay their hand, the forest is roughly four hundred meters away, far out of the range of the rifles so they're forced to wait.

Except for the six snipers, who have somehow climbed up the side of the tower and are firing into the mass of creatures from their many vantage points. All too soon ,they've used up their ten shots and the guns have overheated, luckily the creatures are just a hundred meters away, well within range of the assault rifles.

Fal'nor shouts out an order and the Jaffa being firing.

A loud hum fills the air as the assault rifles draw power from their core, a split second pause as they power-up, then the guns begin firing. Hundreds of plasma bolts plow into the advancing mob, mowing them down with deadly intensity. The creatures die by the hundreds, some requiring two or more shots to put them down but they continue pouring out of the forest, their numbers seemingly endless.

Throughout all this, my Jaffa remain calm and composed, knowing that their god is watching their efforts.

I myself am actually shocked at the number of creatures pouring out of the woods, there had to be thousands of them in there, my Jaffa aren't ready to deal with something of this magnitude, if the creatures continue on like this then the rifles will overheat before they're all dead.

_'Note to self: work on some explosives for situations like this.'_ I muse, thinking about how good a few grenades would be right about now.

While the Goa'uld have Naquadah bombs, flash-bangs and the plasma bombs dropped by the Al'kesh, they have nothing in the way of actual hand grenades, an issue I should rectify after this.

A loud hawk-like screech draws my attention to the west, just in time to see another wave of the creatures pour from the forest, the sneaky bastards flanked us. Normally, this would cause panic in the ranks, being overwhelmed on two fronts but the Jaffa keep their cool, awaiting an order from their commander. Fal'nor waits until the creatures are close enough, the Sniper's picking some off with their cooled sniper rifles, before barking out a series of commands, causing ten of the infantry units to do an about face and fire into the mass of creatures descending from the west.

_'Hmm, well thought out and executed.'_ I muse, impressed at their discipline despite having written the training plans myself._ 'But it's not enough.'_

With fire being concentrated on two fronts, the creatures are slowly making headway, inching closer to our position even as they're killed by the hundreds. Two things happen next that force my hand and cause me to enter the battle.

The first is the twin screeches from the north and south, followed by more creatures pouring out of the forest in those directions. The second is one of the creatures from the east opening it's mouth and expelling a glob of green liquid, which strikes the ground near a Medic and melts through the grass and dirt quickly.

The things can spit acid, not too far but it was still off putting.

_'Right, they've proven themselves skilled enough.'_ I decide, stepping out from the tower. _'Time to end this.'_

"Surei, are you there?" I ask, speaking into the communication device.

"Yes, my lord." The voice of my First Prime responds, sounding faint through the device.

"I take it you can see the battle down here?" I ask, already knowing the answer as the Ha'tak is floating directly above us.

"Yes Lord Heka," he responds after a moment. "We picked up the weapons fire on the sensors."

"Good, I've allowed it to continue as a test of our soldiers," I explain, glancing at the lines of approaching enemies. "However it has come time to end this, launch the Al'kesh and Death gliders, we shall be inside the tower, they are to shoot around it."

"Understood, it shall be done." He replies before yelling orders to the rest of the crew.

I turn off the communication device and turn my attention to the battle, the creatures are still being held off but they're inching closer with every second, slowly overwhelming my forces from four directions. Fal'nor has divided the men evenly to deal with the threat on four fronts but it's not enough, we'll be overrun within minutes.

**_"Fall back to the tower."_** I command, drawing on my power.

My magic spikes as I summon a ball of black fire to my hands, draining what little is left of my strength after the long flight over, it may have been simple but it still required a lot of power to keep myself and forty others afloat in the air. My order is followed instantly and the men begin falling back into the tower, some looking relieved. From the looks of their hands and the smell, most of their weapons were close to overheating, yet they kept their weapons steady and firing despite the high temperature of the metal, impressive.

The creatures, facing no more resistance, screech in apparent victory and rush the tower. I give them a few seconds to move closer before my hands lash out, the ball of flames growing in size as it flies. Soon there is a wall of ebony flames surrounding the tower, burning what few creatures are too close and bringing the rest to a halt, I can hear them outside the barrier but there's nothing they can do, with a grimace I turn and make my way back to the tower.

"Are you alright my lord?" Tej'oc asks as I collapse onto a nearby chair, ignoring the millenniums of dust piled on it.

His question draws the attention of the others and they turn to look at me, taking in my exhausted appearance.

_**"I'm fine Tej'oc, just drained."**_ I reply with a frown. **_"I just require a few minutes rest."_**

"Drained my lord?" He asks, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

This is why playing god is so hard, especially with intelligent subjects, any sign of weakness would draw suspicions and doubts about my divinity. After all, gods don't bleed, get drained or require rest. Luckily, I already have an excuse prepared for such an eventuality.

_**"Yes."**_ I reply in an even tone. _**"Despite my power, I am currently inhabiting a mortal shell, a young one at that. This shell is unable to handle the full might of my power so it is quite limited, that is why I wait for it to mature and grow stronger."**_

That seems to reassure them and their attention turns to the wall of fire, another example of my might, and the creatures beyond it.

"What shall we do about the beasts, they are far to numerous for us to slay." Fal'nor asks, looking disappointed.

"They are of no consequence, our ships shall handle them." I reply, giving each and every one of them a glance. "You have all done well today, I was most impressed with your discipline and capabilities."

That seems to cheer them up and I'm sure they would be beaming if they weren't Jaffa.

"You are too kind, Lord Heka." A few of them reply.

I simply nod and pet Salem, who has curled up in my lap.

"I mean it, you have all done well." I continue, I'm only giving praise where it's deserved, a squad of regular Jaffa would have been wiped out facing the same odds. "Far better than I expected, you have worked hard in your training."

The sound of explosions drowns out their reply as three Al'kesh fly by, dropping their bombs, several dozen Death Gliders follow, blasting the creatures with their cannons in a strafing run. It's a slaughter and I only wish I could be out there to see it, still, this trip was well worth it, not only did I find highly valuable information but I got to wipe out several thousand creatures.

_'And it's not even my birthday yet.'_

* * *

**-Two Months Later-**

It's taken some time but I've finally translated the last of the Furling data into Goa'uld, I'm slightly disappointed with what I find.

On the technological front, the data is a practical gold mine, within the first data crystal is a mountain of information on the Asgard Teleporter, while the second is composed of reports on the cloning process and technology. Apparently, the outpost was meant to be a Furling research facility with two functions.

The first was the study of the Teleportation technology provided by their allies, in an attempt to improve their own Teleporters.

The second function was a study of the Asgard cloning process, in an attempt to find a cure for the slowly dying Asgard.

The Furling had chosen that very planet due to the creatures living on it, know as the Srotpar, which had the ability to rapidly undergo asexual reproduction and cellular mitosis, essentially cloning themselves. That explained to massive numbers of the creatures on the planet, they were literally creating more of themselves as we gunned them down, it had taken several bomb strikes just to fight our way out. At least, I have several samples for study, they'll come in handy once I have a chance to study them.

My disappointment with the data stems from the fact that no information is provided on the cloning technology, just the problems stemming from it and a hypotheses on what could be done. Where the data crystals contain detailed information on the Teleportation technology, it is especially vague on the cloning process, it was really quite annoying.

_'Guess my quest for immortality is back on hold.'_ I sigh, scrolling through the files. _'Oh well, at least I got this teleportation technology out of it, this is far better than the ring transporters we use now.'_

It will take several months to recreate this technology and then refit my vessels to support it, luckily I have thousands of budding technicians to assist me with it, it would take far too long if I was to work on my own.

Grinning to myself, I move on to the third and final data crystal, the one I have yet to read. I'm able to see the title, Replicators, before my vision goes white, moments later everything goes dark.

* * *

I awake an undetermined amount of time later and find myself floating within a stasis field, unable to move, in what appears to be a very advanced starship, one more advanced than any Goa'uld ship.

"You're awake." a voice says off to the side, out of my view. "Interesting, you should have remained unconscious for several more hours."

"Who are you?" I ask in an even tone, drawing on my magic.

"Interesting, you are calm despite the situation." the voice replies, ignoring my question. "Even with the Goa'uld parasite removed, your personality remains the same, you are strange for a human child."

That sends a shock through my system as my focus is drawn inward, towards my symbiote which I now realize is missing, somehow this person has removed the symbiote against my will. This is surprising and shocking but its not a problem for me, having taken the Jaffa cure, I don't really need the symbiote for the advanced abilities.

I had kept it for different reasons however. Despite being brain dead, the Goa'uld was still alive and connected to my mind, it was through this connection that I could split my mind in two and control both bodies at the same time, it is also through this connection that I can sense that the symbiote is somewhere on this vessel and still alive.

"Who are you" I ask again, keeping my tone even.

"Yes, you are very interesting. I had thought the Alteran all gone but here you are, using powers and technology beyond those of a human or Goa'uld, you will make a fine test subject." the voice says, moving into my line of view. "Through you, I will finally discover a cure."

The second I see the being I immediately recognize him, well not him personally but I definitely recognize the species. He was roughly one meter in height with grayish skin, a large head with pitch black eyes and long skinny limbs.

An Asgard.

"Greetings human child." the Asgard spoke, looking positively devious. "I am Loki."


	9. Asgard

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**_"Text."_** - God voice.

**A/N: Thumbs up to anyone that realized that Srotpar is just Raptors backwards.**

**A/N2: To all reviewers, I prefer to answer reviews with pms rather than writing long at the start/end of my chapters. If you ask a question and would like an answer, don't review as a guest.**

**Final A/N: Images of all weapons and vehicles mentioned in the last chapter are on my Deviant Art page, either google it or use this link with no spaces: lord drakos . deviantart . com**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Asgard.**

"Loki." I repeat the name with a raised brow. "The disgraced one?"

"Ah, so you know me child?" He asks, tilting his head to the side in curiosity, although there's a hint of anger in his tone.

"I know _of_ you, Fujin had your file on his mainframe, the Goa'uld like to keep an eye on their enemies, especially the Asgard." I reply blandly. "They were quite interested when a member the Asgard High Council was stripped of his title, for experimenting on innocents no less, for shame."

Loki's eyes flash with anger, looks like I hit a soft spot.

"Those fools on the council don't understand what is required for our survival, my work would have seen us all recover from this pathetic affliction." He seems to calm down slightly but the anger is clear in his eyes. "So what if a few humans are sacrificed for the cause, it is for the greater good of the Asgard."

The greater good? Oh joy, a freaky alien Dumbledore, just perfect. At least I know how to deal with him, the Asgard tend to have one track minds and little creativity, all their genius gets in the way of creativity.

"Indeed, I agree with you." I reply, nodding as well as I can within the stasis field. "You and I are quite similar you know, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals."

He stares back for several moments before snorting in disgust.

"Do you think me a fool child? That I can't see what you're attempting?" He asks with a sneer. "Please don't belittle my intelligence, I am a scientist after all."

Right, Asgard's are too smart to manipulate, should have remembered that.

Let's go with plan B then, interrogation.

"Very well then, tell me Loki, how do you know of me?" I ask, sounding disappointed at my failed manipulation. "I've kept my subject close to home and only my most trusted soldier leave my territory to sell resources and purchase supplies, I know that they haven't spoken of my presence."

He snorts once more.

"The Goa'uld aren't the only ones that spy on their enemies, we Asgard have our own ways of doing so." He replies, looking to a computer console off to the side "Imagine our surprise when a boy, a weak little child, manages to single-handedly overthrow a Goa'uld and take his empire."

I stare back silently, the little shits have been spying on me?

Well, that's just not cool.

"Of course, the boy is also a Goa'uld but that wasn't enough to explain it, no Goa'uld could so easily do such a thing." Loki continues, pacing before me. "The boy also happens to have abilities far surpassing those of a human, it wasn't hard for us to realize just what he was, a descendant of the Alteran."

"The Alteran?" I ask, not knowing the word or the race.

Loki sighs in exasperation.

"The Goa'uld refer to them as the Ancients, the gate-builders of a bygone era, but long ago they were our greatest allies, our teachers and friends." he explains in a snide tone. "We knew them as the Alteran."

Ah, this is a surprise, if Loki is actually correct about this... well, the possibilities are endless. The Goa'uld know of many technologies that require the genes of an Ancient to activate, if I can get my hands on a few of those...

"I see, why have you kidnapped me then?" I ask, straining against the stasis field. "If you are correct, then we are meant to be allies."

"Do not bother trying to escape, I have removed your symbiote and the Naquadah in your blood, you are just a simple human child now." He comments, ignoring my question. "I have studied you for quite some time, I know that you require your hands to use your abilities, that is why the stasis field renders you immobile."

With that, he turns to a nearby computer and begins scrolling through information that I cant see from my position, I decide to use the opportunity to check myself over fully, making sure that he hasn't done anything else to me. I'm unsurprised to find that my magic is still with me and waiting to be called upon, I'm pretty sure that the Asgard have no way of sensing or measuring the power of my soul so he's unable to cut me off from it.

As Loki mentioned however, all of the Naquadah is gone from my blood, removed so cleanly that not a single flake remains. I also didn't have my wand as it had been resting on a table when he snatched, luckily, he's left me with my necklace.

The fool.

His first mistake is thinking that I need my hands to use my power, it's a habit that helps me focus but it's not a requirement, I will keep it up though as it seems to have come in handy in this instance.

His second mistake is leaving even a sliver of Naquadah on me, assuming it to be a mere accessory rather than the useful tool that it is, not that taking the necklace would have helped all that much. Unlike my wand which I can only use when I'm holding it, the necklace is intimately tied to my magic so I'll still be able to use it if it's in the general area.

"Interesting." Loki says, turning back to me. "You definitely contain the Alteran gene but there is nothing here that explains the powers you wield, your mental capabilities are far below the required threshold."

He examines me for a few moments and I stare back blankly, seconds pass before he turns back to the computer and scrolls down, reading the data at inhuman speeds.

"This is quite strange indeed, I'll admit that you do appear to have higher than normal brain functions but your brain is still that of a regular human." He continues, staring back at me. "You are definitely an Alteran but like I said, you are well below the required threshold to utilize the increased capabilities of an Alteran, where does your power come from?"

I remain silent, knowing that he's just rambling to himself now, I do find all of this highly educational nonetheless. The Goa'uld know little about the Ancients except for what they have pieced together through the technology they've found, the Asgard seem to know quite a bit about the Ancients and their capabilities, I'm quite interested in what they may have to share.

"Perhaps the power lies with the symbiote then, a reaction from a mix of Alteran and Goa'uld, I'll have to examine it as well." Loki continues, mumbling to himself. "Or maybe it truly is just another trick of technology, perhaps hidden in the strange clothes you wear."

He looks to the side and I notice my trench coat laying across a surface, tossed aside with casual ease.

The Bastard! He's wrinkling it.

"That coat is made of a material I have never encountered." Loki continues, still talking to himself. "It's organic yes, but it also has strange qualities, it shall have to be closely examined as well."

His dialog is cut off as I chuckle, interrupting his long ramble, I'm quite amused at the stupidity of the Asgard, their lack of creativity really does hinder them at times. The Asgard believe in only what they can see and explain, Loki looked at my blood and seeing no proof of my magic, decided it just wasn't there. He was willing to believe that my power stemmed from a piece of c_lothing_, fantastic clothing yes but clothing nonetheless, just because there's no proof in my blood.

It's this lack of creativity that leads him to believe my magic is tied to my body and blood, he just can't comprehend the existence of something deeper. Magic is a spiritual force, it is tied far deeper than my mortal shell, is tied to my very soul, something the Asgard sensors will never find. So, while he believes I have no power whatsoever, that very same power rages around us, an invisible storm waiting to be commanded.

"What is funny child?" Loki asks, glaring at me.

"This."

He yells out in shock as he's blasted backwards and sent crashing into the computer console, he remains conscious but his frail form is weakened by the blow. I grin to myself and flicker, leaving the stasis field behind as I appear next to the stunned Asgard.

Despite a lack of initial information, Plan B seems to be working well so far.

Now, for stage two.

"You really shouldn't have kidnapped me Loki, it was a horrible idea on your part." I say, magic visibly swirling around me now. "Now tell me, where is my symbiote?"

He snarls and glares up at me in anger, his advanced mind trying to make a plan, he decides to go the route of defiance.

"I have disposed of it." He replies, lying right through his teeth.

"We both know that's a lie." I say with an annoyed huff. "I don't like being lied to Loki."

He continues to glare back, daring me to do something about it.

"Perhaps I'll just have to persuade you to tell the truth then." I say, my voice lacking emotion.

His eyes widen as a crimson glow surrounds my hands, crackling with carefully restrained power, my face is blank of emotion as I kneel and place a hand on his chest, ignoring the struggles of his feeble body.

His screams resound around the ship, his body thrashing as pure pain overwhelms his system, when it come to causing pain, the Cruciatus Curse really has no equal. Asgard aren't used to feeling pain, especially scientists like Loki, they do battle from within their ships, keeping their weak, pathetic bodies away from the true fight.

As such, it is quite understandable why Loki begins pleading for me to stop after just twenty seconds under the Cruciatus.

"Now, let's try this again." I begin once he's regained his bearings, his form twitching with phantom pain. "Where is my symbiote?"

He's quick to reply this time and for his sake I hope it's the truth, I already know where my symbiote is as I can sense it, I jut want to know how he'll reply in the future interrogation.

* * *

Having received a truthful answer from Loki, it takes me just a matter of seconds to track down my symbiote, it's kept in a separate lab room and stored within a stasis field as well. I deactivate the field and quickly put the symbiote back into my body, having nowhere else to store it, it's just as painful as the first time but the surge of power as Naquadah flows through my veins is well worth the pain.

With that finished, I make my way back to Loki's unconscious form, having stunned him before I left. I can't help but be impressed with the advanced technology around me as I wander the vessel, this is all far more advanced than anything the Goa'uld have ever built, it's a pity this is nothing more than a small scout ship.

Loki is doing all of this behind the back of the council, as he knows they would disapprove and punish him, so he's hiding all of his work until it bares fruit. With my territory being under close examination from the council, he'd felt that an Asgard mothership or science vessel would have been far too noticeable, so he'd only taken a scout ship and snuck in behind their backs. That's a pity, while I could learn much from tearing this ship apart, there will be far too little information stored on the computer.

A pity indeed.

Standing next to Loki, I surround him in a cocoon of my magic, holding him immobile midair like he did me, only then do I revive him.

"Welcome back Loki." I greet as he regains consciousness.

He groans as he wakes, his form still twitching with pain from the Cruciatus Curse, after all the tests he's probably done on my unconscious form, I find this to be justified vengeance.

"Release me!" Loki snarls, his eyes ablaze with anger despite the pain.

I don't much expect another Cruciatus Curse to be quite so effective this time or ever again for that matter, Loki is an extremely intelligent creature, by now he would have worked out many techniques to block the pain from his mind, it's what I would have done in his position. Not that it matters, I have dozens of different methods that I can use on him should I have the need, pain isn't the only way to torture someone.

"Oh, I will." I reply, smirking deviously. "Once I have everything I need that is."

"Your tricks won't work again, I refuse to tell you anything else." Loki replies, proving my suspicion correct.

No matter, time for a new tactic. My eyes glow with power as magic pools behind them, waiting to be used.

"This might hurt." I reply in a tone that assures him that I don't rightly care if it hurts or not.

I enter his mind with relative ease, finding no barriers to bar my path but rather than the sneak attack method I used with Surei during our first meeting, I go for the overwhelming brute force method that I used on Fujin. Loki's screams of pain are matched by my own as I go flying back, crashing against the vessels walls, incredible pain fills my mind and I grab my head as I stand.

_'Alright, that was definitely a failure.'_ I groan, rubbing my head as I try to suppress the pain.

Loki's groan follows mine and I look up to see him standing, my magic having failed from my distraction.

"What have you done boy?" He snarls, grabbing his head. "You entered my mind!"

"Yes and I'm really regretting it right now." I snarl back, reinforcing my shields to suppress the pain.

It turns out that using Legilimency on a Asgard is a bad idea, a very bad idea, despite having no mental shields whatsoever, the Asgard have an unintentional defense of their own. There's a reason the Asgard have such large heads, they have a lot of information to store and need the room, an I mean a lot. When I entered Loki's mind, I ran smack dab into a wall of knowledge, far to much knowledge for my mind to sort and comprehend.

My probe simply struck that wall and bounced off, finding too much information to grasp onto, I can't even use the few bits of information I was able to gleam, it was all in the Asgard language.

"How dare you?" Loki continues, his face twisted in rage.

He makes a lunge for an item on a nearby surface, raising it and turning to me, I simply snort and flick my finger, holding him midair once more and summoning the item from his hand. I'm glad that I reacted so fast, things could have gone very badly if I hadn't. The item I've summoned is a shock spear, an Asgard weapon designed to specifically target and inflict pain on those with Naquadah in their systems.

This is a truly dangerous weapon against someone like me, which is why I crush it, much to Loki's anger.

"_You_ kidnapped me, I think I'm entitled to do as I please in retaliation." I reply, ignoring the fact that I've just disarmed him and destroyed his weapon with relative ease, it's his fault for thinking he could actually strike faster than I can react, Asgard may be small and boney but they're not very fast.

He glares again and struggles but his body is far too weak to physically fight off the charm, finally he sighs and turns to me.

"What do you want with me?" He asks after a moment, at least he's intelligent enough to realize where this is going, I don't think I have the patience to deal with an annoying and defiant prisoner.

I tilt my head to the side, thinking on his request, Legilimency is completely out and even if I torture him, I wouldn't be able to invade his mind like I did Fujin. He's also far too intelligent to succumb to the Imperius or other weaker compulsions, although I could still give them a try, I'll put those on the bottom of my list. I could try and invade his mind with my symbiote but that's a terrible idea, the last Goa'uld to try and control an Asgard met with horrible results.

_'Hmm, maybe I can make a deal with him.' _I consider, going over my options.

It's a viable option, better than anything else I can think of, if I manage to strike a deal with him and through him the council, then I might be able to get my hands on some Asgard technology without going to war for them. This way, there's no risk to my empire and I can get the technology years before I'd planned.

Now, what can I offer them?

_'Hmm, he was here to perform tests on me.' _I muse, running through everything I can offer the Asgard. _'Oh! That just might work, I can kill two birds with one stone this way.'_

"How about a deal?" I propose, much to his shock.

"A deal?" He asks, eyes narrowing. "What sort of deal?"

"The kind that's beneficial to both parties." I reply, grinning cheekily at the half answer. "First off, we'll start with a small agreement, you know, to build trust and all that nonsense. So, I'll ask you some questions and if you answer them, I'll release you. Nothing too big or important, just some things I'm curious about."

He considers it for a moment before nodding.

"Very well."

"Good, now then, where are we?"

"We are orbiting the moon of your planet." He replies easily enough, a check on the computer proves this to be true.

"How did you kidnap me and what was your plan?"

He remains silent for a moment, thinking before answering.

"I was able to lock onto your position my sensors, it was a simple matter to transport you onto the ship." He explains, his tone measured and composed. "As for my plans, I planned to study your DNA in search of a cure for our own problems, it is my belief that Alteran DNA holds the key to our survival."

Ah, that makes sense in a weirdly twisted sort of way, stupid scientists.

"How did you plan to explain my disappearance, if your council is keeping track of me then they surely would have noticed?" I ask, curious to his plans. "Especially if they checked the area and found proof of Asgard beaming technology."

He smirks smugly at this, seemingly reveling in his brilliance.

"I replaced you with a clone, no one will notice the difference."

I don't know whether to feel violated and angry that he made a clone of me or laugh that he actually thinks that will work, I go with both, angry laughter.

"Did you actually think that would work?" I ask once I stop laughing.

He snarls and glares at me.

"My clones are perfect, both in body and mind, no one would have noticed."

"Oh? I'm sure they would have noticed when the clone has no higher brain functions." I reply with a frown. "I'm sure the Jaffa would have noticed when their god turned into a catatonic human child."

That stops him short and he stares at me.

"What? That makes no sense!" Loki growls, sounding puzzled. "The clone has all your memories, it is a perfect copy!"

"Fool, be silent for a moment while I check the damage you've done."

He grinds his teeth but remains silent as I close my eyes, focusing on my familiars link.

* * *

_'Salem?'_

**'Brat? What's going on, are you okay?'**

_'I've been kidnapped Salem.'_

**'Kidnapped? You're sitting right next to me.'**

_'That's not me, it's a clone sent to impersonate me or it would be if this scientist had any idea just what I am.'_

**'Ah, that explains it, I think. The clone hasn't done anything, it just sits there, staring at nothing.'**

_'Where is the clone now?'_

**'We're in the manor, the guards are here trying to wake it.'**

_'Right, budge over.'_

With a feeling reminiscent of apparition, I feel my consciousness being sucked through a straw and spat out the other end. My eyes open, my vision lower to the ground and everything seems larger than it should be, I'm successfully possessing my cat. We're inside my library, the clone laying unresponsive before my computer, the files from the Furling base still on display. Surei, Asha'ka and Fal'nor are standing beside the clone, worriedly watching as a Medic scans it with a healing device, it's good to see that they care.

_**"Surei!"**_ My voice echoes from Salem's mouth, magic compensating for the lack of proper vocal cords.

All four Jaffa jump in shock and turn to stare at me, wondering what the hell is going on.

"My lord?" My first prime asks, staring down at me in surprise.

I wish I knew how to use Salem's abilities, being this small is a pain, I need to practice this possession ability more often, it's similar to splitting my mind between my Goa'uld and my body but it's also very different.

_**"That is not me Surei, it is an impostor!"**_ I say as way of response.

Instantly pistols and rifles are raised, my guards reacting as they should to this news.

The clone continues to sit there, unresponsive.

"What shall we do with it my lord." Fal'nor asks, already composed despite the strangeness of the situation, the poor medic looks completely lost, with no idea of what to do

**_"Keep it alive, I shall deal with it when I return."_** I reply, making plans of what to do with a clone of myself, it should be interesting.

"It shall be done, do you require assistance my lord?" Surei asks, bowing to the cat I'm inhabiting.

**_"No, my kidnappers have already learned the error of their ways."_** I reply, already pulling away from the cats mind. **_"I shall return soon enough, continue as normal."_**

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

As my consciousness settles, my eyes open to the familiar sight of the Asgard ship, Loki floating midair and glancing at me with curiosity.

I set him down, as per our agreement, but I keep my magic ready just in case.

"The clone was a failure." I comment, turning away and grabbing my tench coat, the little bastard is lucky it didn't wrinkle.

"Impossible, I have made hundreds of such clones, it was perfect in every way." He replies angrily.

"Yes it was or it would have been if it had any brain functions whatsoever." I counter, stopping him short.

"Explain."

"You assumed that my mind would be that of a normal human, you were wrong." I reply by way of explanation. "My power surrounds my mind, keeping it from being invaded, not even your cloning technology will pierce through. Essentially, you created a clone with no memories or thoughts whatsoever."

Of course, that's a minor lie, my Occlumency has nothing to do with his failure, it's just more believable than the truth. As a magical being, my mind and magic are both connected to my soul, my body simply serves to hold my soul onto the physical plane and to focus my magic. Without my soul, I'd be a mindless husk just like that clone, this is the main reason only magicals can become ghosts and why certain purebloods don't consider muggles to be human. Of course, this information isn't widely spread, I only learned it while studying soul magic

"That is very... interesting." Loki replies, a curious glint in his eyes.

Now would be a good time to make that deal before he goes back into 'mad scientist' mode.

"Now, are you willing to hear my deal?" I ask. "I assure you, it is beneficial for both sides."

He doesn't seem very excited to strike a deal, I'm sure he would like nothing more than to study me more closely now that he's seen my abilities first hand.

"Very well, what do you propose?" He asks after a moment, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It just so happens that the Goa'uld have heard of a device, a device that contains the entire knowledge of the Asgard race." I begin, wording my request in a proper way. "I am, of course, speaking of the Computer Core."

His eyes narrow, he's already put two and two together and made four.

The Computer Core is the Asgard's greatest creation, not only does it have every single one of their technologies stored in its data banks but it can also absorb raw materials and materialize finished products _and_ it comes with a simple, easy to use, voice controlled interface. It's just that damn good, it literally cost the Goa'uld hundreds of spies to find out about it, the Asgard guarded it with their highest security.

"What of it?" Loki grounds out, his entire form shaking with anger.

"I want it of course." I reply with a smirk. "Oh, I'll let you edit the information pertaining to your peoples history and your great secrets but I want the technological knowledge stored in the core."

He stares at me for a few seconds and snorts in disgust.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike this guy? I'm one more eye roll away from blowing his huge head apart, it's just big enough to make a decent mess on the walls.

"You must be a fool child, do you really think I will hand over such a thing in exchange for my life?"

"Nope." I say cheerily. "You'll hand it over in exchange for the lives of all your people."

His eyes narrow into slits as he glares at me.

"Explain."

"You seek a cure for your people." I begin, shifting to a bored tone. "I happen to know of one."

"You are lying." Loki snarls angrily. "The Goa'uld are not capable enough to create such a device."

"That's because the Goa'uld didn't create it." I reply evenly. "The Ancients did."

That stops him short once more, I must say I enjoy doing that, it's quite fun to see an Asgard struck dumb.

"There is a machine, a machine that was used by the Goa'uld to create the Jaffa." I continue. "The DNA Resequencer."

"Surely you jest, the machine is flawed." Loki counters, although he seems to be considering it. "It only works on humans and many of them became deformed or died horrible deaths, the Jaffa were a lucky fluke."

"True, it is flawed, but only in the hands of a Goa'uld." I reply in a low tone, allowing him to think. "In the hands of an Alteran however..."

"It could work to it's full capabilities." Loki finishes, his eyes wide.

"Indeed."

Loki falls silent, wrapping his mind around the fact that there could really be a cure for his people.

"Where is the machine?" He asks after a few moments of silence.

"It is held by the Goa'uld System Lord Nirrti, she is a scientist however so her forces are small, small but effective nonetheless." I reply after a moments thought. "Assist me in claiming the machine and I will use it to repair your DNA, give me the Computer Core and I will cure all of your people."

He's silent for a few more seconds, emotions passing over his face as he thinks. Finally he sighs and rubs his temples, clearly annoyed with something.

"The council will never agree to this, they would never put the core in the hands of a Goa'uld." Loki says after a few seconds.

"But_ I'm_ not a Goa'uld am I? I, am an Alteran." I counter with a smirk. "They have seen how I rule, I'm helping the people rather than oppressing them, that is not the way of the Goa'uld."

"Perhaps." Loki replies, thinking once more.

"They may consider it if it is explained logically," I continue, pressing the issue. "You yourself have run tests on me, you have spoken with me, you can convince them that I am not like the Goa'uld."

He stares back with a raised brow and despite not having any eyebrows, he's able to pull it off.

"Fine," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "But I'm not as bad as the Goa'uld at least."

"Very well." Loki says after another moment of thought. "I shall present them with the idea, they will not be pleased but I will make them see reason."

"Good." I reply, trying to wrack my mind for more ideas, what else can I offer to sweeten the deal? I really want that machine.

I'm struck with a sudden idea as I recall something, a file I only had a chance to glimpse at, the very same file that was on the computer when I was possessing Salem. I focus my heart-mind on that one memory, recalling everything that I saw from that one glance at the computer screen.

"As added incentive, tell them this," I begin, drawing his attention. "Should they accept, I will offer an alliance, their assistance against the Goa'uld and mine against the Replicators."

I only have a general idea of what replicators are, the one paragraph I remember seeing had them listed as self-replicating machines and enemies of the Asgard. They sound similar to the Srotpar, what with their self-cloning ability, except they're machines instead of organic beings.

"That will not sway them, the replicators are formidable opponents." Loki replies after a moments thought. "Your forces are too few to lend us any assistance."

"True," I counter, considering another way to rob them blind. "But you hold an Alteran repository on the creatures do you not? I'm willing to bet that you have yet to fully decipher its secrets, as an Alteran, I would be able to use the machine and find a way to defeat the Replicators."

Loki's eyes widen once more and I smirk in victory, I'm actually glad this kidnapping took place, finding out that I have Alteran DNA is one of the best things that could have happened. This DNA will allow me access to technology more advanced than anything else in this galaxy, it is a great victory for me, even if the Asgard turn me down.

The Goa'uld know the location of a couple more repositories as well, it's just a simple matter of finding that information on Fujin's mainframe and stealing it from the Goa'uld that owns it. With those repositories, I can completely skip the Asgard technology and move on to the more powerful Ancient technology. I still want the computer core however, I have no idea what is stored in these few repositories and the Asgard technology will be a viable fallback option, better safe than sorry.

"Very well child, I shall present your offer to the council. " Loki replies. "You will receive some form of confirmation within a matter of days."

"Should they refuse?" I ask, raising a brow in question.

"There is too much at risk for them to refuse." He replies, staring back at me.

"Should they refuse?" I repeat, stressing the words.

Loki sighs and looks off to the side.

"I will do what I must to see my people cured, no matter the consequences." he growls out. "Sacrifices must sometimes be made, for the greater good."

I smirk at his meaning, the core will be mine regardless of the councils decision.

"For the greater good indeed."

With that I'm gone, flickering down to the planet.

* * *

Two days pass before I receive word from the Asgard, delivered personally by Loki himself, they are a bit peeved at him for his actions and he will receive some form of punishment but they are still willing to take his opinions into consideration when they hear my offer. According to Loki, he worked extra hard to convince them to accept, even going so far as to argue with the whole council. The Asgard scientist was more than willing to share the content of those arguments with me, disgusted that his brethren would put anything before the survival of their race.

It all came down to one main issue with the council, whether the deal would violate the Protected Planets Treaty, the pact between the Asgard and the Goa'uld.

Their first issue is that the treaty states that they are not allowed to help or allow human worlds to advance to a level that could threaten the Goa'uld, meaning they wouldn't be allowed to hand the core over to me. Loki however, argued that technically my planets are still classified as Goa'uld worlds, regardless of whether I'm an actual Goa'uld or not.

The council was also wary of launching an attack on a Goa'uld System Lord just to reclaim a faulty device, they didn't have the manpower or ships to start a war with the Goa'uld at this point in time. Again, Loki had an answer for them, despite its long list of rules and stipulations, the treaty doesn't actually stop the Asgard and Goa'uld from attacking each other. Essentially, the Goa'uld are prevented from attacking planets under Asgard protection and the Asgard would keep those planets from advancing to a level that threatens the Goa'uld, a direct attack on the Goa'uld would not violate the treaty, neither would handing the Core over to my empire.

The arguments were long and spirited but in the end, the council agreed to hand over the Computer Core, complete with its highly advanced power core and nearly all the technology of the Asgard people. Of course, they'll remove anything important that they don't want to hand over such as their races history, greatest secrets, outpost locations and hidden labs, they also refuse to hand over such technologies like the Time-dilation Device and most of their more advanced technology, like their Ion Guns, Invisibility Devices and the Shock Spear technology. These are all items they deemed too dangerous or useful to hand over, especially when it could be used against them.

Frankly I don't really care, what they've agreed to hand over is a literal treasure trove of technology, technology that will put me above the Goa'uld and many of the known races in this galaxy. The Time-dilation Device is not much of a loss, all Goa'uld experiments that have gone into time manipulation did not end well, even the Asgard know not to mess with it, otherwise they would have used it to buy themselves the time to build up their vessels and overwhelm the replicators and Goa'uld.

As for the Ion Guns, they may be superior to the Galaxy-class Lasers that have been handed over but those Lasers are far superior to current Goa'uld weapons and shields, a single one of my vessels would be able to take on two Goa'uld Ha'tak on its own and come out on top. The Invisibility Device one that I definitely would have liked to get my hands on however, being able to cloak themselves would have served my forces well, it's an unfortunate loss but I can deal with it. Lastly is the Shock Spear technology, another one that I would have liked to get my hand on, a single shot of this could put down any Goa'uld or Jaffa no matter where they're hit.

All in all, I come out on top while the Asgard get to keep a few of their cards hidden, some secrets that could give them an advantage should they ever find themselves under attack from my empire. While this means that Asgard ships will be better than any ships I can build, I'm not too worried, the Asgard are very strict on keeping their word. This means that baring a direct attack from my forces, they will remain my allies for the foreseeable future, the Asgard are no longer a threat to my empire, in fact, they were now my greatest allies.

They make no mention of the Ancient repository however, nor do they mention the Replicators, which I've had a chance to read up on. I do hope that they accept that part of the deal, the only known Goa'uld with repositories are Ra and Yu, two very powerful System Lords that I have no plans of fighting for some time as they outnumber me in both ships and soldiers.

* * *

All too soon, the Computer Core is delivered and I realize that I have absolutely nowhere to put it. None of my Ha'tak can handle that level of advanced technology, yet, and I don't have a palace to store it in, my tent can barely handle the Goa'uld computer I already have setup in there.

In the end, I decide to place it inside my factory on Raini, it's a safe enough place being the farthest from the nearest Goa'uld world and it has no Chappa'ai of its own, it is an acceptable location until another can be found. I really do need to find a location to store both the Core and the Quantum Mirror, neither are safe enough at their current locations, a permanent and defensible base of operations will come in handy.

Storing the Core in one of my refineries works out well enough for now, all of the machines have been reprogrammed to feed the raw materials into the Core itself, with the Core I might no longer need my refineries or factories. Once I get this Core situated properly, all of my factories will become obsolete as the Core will be able to fully materialize finished products within seconds, the only factories I'll need are the ones for my vehicle and the space docks, the Core only being able to materialize parts for them rather than entire machines.

It truly was a great trade.

With the Core now in my possession, the Asgard, led by Supreme Commander Thor, insist that we immediately launch an attack and retrieve the Resequencer. I would have liked more time to prepare both my men and my ships but a deal is a deal, they've delivered the core, now we're going after the Resequencer.

I spend another day drawing up battle plans with Thor while Surei prepares my forces, this will be our first attack on another Goa'uld world, I can hardly wait.

* * *

I take a moment to stop and smell the fresh air as I exit the Chappa'ai, this is a nice tropical planet, surprising for a Goa'uld world. Turning my attention to the area around me, I'm proud to see that my two guard squads, lead by Asha'ka and Mina, have dealt with the enemy guards already. Despite belonging to a System Lord, the gate was only defended by a measly twenty Jaffa guards, all of which were easily stunned and tied up by my forces.

High above us, four of my Ha'tak, an Asgard mothership and twenty Asgard cruisers are easily laying waste to the defending force, a mere ten Ha'tak and numerous Al'kesh and Death Gliders. Nirrti may be a System Lord but she has the lowest number of starships, her power lies with her ground forces, which is why I'm gleeful when three Plasma Tanks exit the Chappa'ai, followed by two fully loaded Carriers.

We're quite a distance from Nirrti's palace but my vehicles will be able to cover that distance with relative ease, bypassing the anti-air staff cannons around the palace. Nirrti is a System Lord for a reason, even with her lack of starships she's kept her position with relative ease thanks to her modified staff cannons, they're more than capable of shooting down a Goa'uld Ha'tak with concentrated fire.

I can't wait to see how she deals with this ground assault.

A third Carrier floats through the gate and my honor squads are soon loaded on board, the ten extra men remaining to defend the gate. A Shield Generator is deployed around the Chappa'ai as we drive off, keeping any of the enemy from escaping through it and we begin making our way to the palace. I stay well behind the small convoy, satisfied to follow and watch, assessing the capabilities of my units and the vehicles.

While I'll be assessing their abilities in this battle, I'm still prepared to step in should things go wrong and I expect them to, Nirrti may be a Goa'uld but she's also a scientist, Goa'uld scientists don't become System Lords without having some sort of advantage. Keeping her position may be easy but she still must have some advantage that allowed her to gain it in the first place, I'm willing to bet the Resequencer helped in that regard.

This is proven correct when a group of fifty severely deformed humans rush us from the direction of the palace, moving at speeds beyond any Jaffa and each carrying a staff cannon with ease, this looks interesting. Despite the sight of what are clearly enhanced humans attacking my vehicles with large cannon blasts, I'm satisfied to just stay back and watch how my men deal with this, this is the first real mission for these two honor squads and it's also the first test of my pilot division, I'm interested in how they react.

Asha'ka, the team leader, decides to follow her headstrong nature and responds with sheer, overwhelming force.

Explosions rock the area as all three tanks fire their staff cannons on the attackers, completely obliterating them in a blast of gore and debris, I'd ordered them to take as many prisoners as they can but there's not much they can do against fifty staff cannon toting warriors. The convoy continues forward without pause, crushing corpses beneath it's treads as it closes in on the palace.

There are several staff cannons mounted on the palace roof, all of which turn away from skies and begin firing on my vehicles once they're in range, a hail of plasma bolts raining from above. The tanks easily absorb the plasma bolts with their powerful shields and plow forward, not stopping as they return fire and blow apart the mounted cannons. While this is going on, the Carriers drive right up to the palace steps and begin unloading their passengers, the soldiers streaming out in a fast but orderly manner.

Asha'ka shouts out some commands and the tanks form a perimeter while the soldiers run up the palace stairs, all one hundred Jaffa prepared to breach the building, I'm a bit upset that I haven't gotten around to designing some grenades or C4 for my forces but my Jaffa are able to make do. Nirrti, like most Goa'uld, has built her palace out of rare materials, mostly gold, marble and precious stones. This is all well and good in presentation but to defend from an invading force? Not so much. This is proven when a tank mounted staff cannon blasts the golden doors apart, two more blasts forming large holes in the marble walls, I'll give her credit for building the frame out of titanium but that still doesn't stand up to power of the staff cannons.

With the entrances made, my Jaffa pour into the palace, their weapons held high and steady. The sounds of fighting stream out the doors, my Jaffa facing off against Nirrti's mutated humans, I can also hear the sound of standard staff weapons firing meaning she has normal Jaffa guards of her own.

"Lord Heka." A voice calls through my communication device.

"Yes, Supreme Commander?" I ask in reply, recognizing Thor's voice after our hours of planning.

"We have determined the location the machine through our sensors, what is your suggestion?" He asks in an even tone, being far less emotional than Loki.

"Beam it onto Surei's Ha'tak, he knows what to do." I reply immediately. "Is there any sign of Nirrti?"

"She is within the throne room of her palace, surrounded by her guards." Thor replies after a moment. "Your forces will be reaching her momentarily, you are outnumbered however."

"That's fine, my soldiers are better trained." I comment, entering the palace. "They can handle a few Jaffa and deformed humans."

"Very well." Thor replies, sounding distracted. "You should also note that the sensors have picked up an active Stargate within the throne room, the other gate has gone temporarily offline."

"She probably moved it there for a quick escape should the need arise, I'll try and prevent her escape but the Resequencer is what truly matters." I sigh as I speed up, ignoring the bodies strewn around me, with a second gate active my forces can no longer dial into or out of this world from the first gate.

My soldiers have cleared a path through the halls, killing and stunning any opposition they encounter and from the looks of things, they've encountered a lot of opposition. Sadly, despite their skills I've lost quite a few of my own soldiers, their bodies left behind as the others press forward. I count roughly fifteen of my own dead as I pass by, their corpses cold and their weapons turned to dust but I'm glad to see that for everyone of my soldiers killed, two of Nirrti's have also fallen.

I soon catch up with a group of my own forces, roughly twenty strong, the sounds of weapons fire from other parts of the palace serving as notice to where the rest are, they must have split up at some point. These twenty men and women, lead by one of the Junior Officers denoted by the black line down the center of his chest armor, snap to attention when they see me, saluting respectfully.

**_"Report."_** I command, addressing the Junior Officer in charge.

He straightens under my gaze and begins giving his report.

"We were cut off from the main unit my lord, one of the deformed humans was able to collapse a hallway with his abilities." He explains in one quick breath.

I've already given my men an overview of what Nirrti has done to her men, turning them into deformed humans with powerful abilities in an attempt to create a Hok'tar. They understand that it's a trick of technology, a machine that the Goa'uld use to further oppress their subjects. I would have preferred to keep it all a secret but that would have been a bad idea, I don't want them associating any of my powers with those of Nirrti's subjects, that would cause problems I just don't need.

"Afterwards, I took control of the squad and we secured the doors to the throne room, we are just awaiting orders from Commander Asha'ka." He continues, bringing my attention to the large golden doors behind him.

"Well done, you have all proven yourselves a credit to your unit." I reply, addressing them all. "Contact Commander Asha'ka and tell her to secure the palace, I will personally lead the assault on the throne room."

They all perk up at my praise, bolstered by my compliments. The Junior officer bows and turns to a technician, who is already contacting Asha'ka and her squad.

Or Commander Asha'ka, I should say.

Having finished the bulk of their advanced training, every one of my personal guard was granted a high rank when they received their honor guard squads. Surei was given the rank of First Prime of Heka and High Commander of the Legion, he is essentially my second in command and personally commands two squads of his own. The others were given the rank of Commander, with one squad of their own and near infinite control over the general forces.

Becoming a Commander is the highest rank any soldier can reach, with only myself and Surei outranking them. After the Commanders are the general forces, which are all split into the most basic of army ranks. Their ranks go from Private to Corporal to Sergeant to Lieutenant to Captain, the Captains commanding most of the army, with the soldiers falling into the ranks below based on their skill and proficiency.

"My Lord, Commander Hina reports that they have found Nirrti's prisoners in the dungeons, what are your commands?" The Junior Officer, a Lieutenant based on the four black bars on his shoulders, asks after speaking with the technician.

"My orders still stand, secure the palace, we'll deal with everything else when we're finished." I reply, turning to the golden doors of Nirrti's throne room as he rushes to relay my orders.

"Thor," I begin, speaking into my communication device. "Is Nirrti still within the throne room?"

There's a few seconds of silence before he responds.

"Yes, she is within the room but the Stargate remains active, she is prepared to leave at a moments notice." He responds.

"Can you track her destination?"

"No, the location is out of our sensor range." Thor answers after a moments pause.

"Damn, I'll just have to try and prevent her from fleeing." I reply with a smirk, I plan on letting Nirrti go free no matter what happens today, I have further use for her and I don't need the Asgard interfering with my plans.

Thor doesn't reply, so I set aside the device.

_**"Lieutenant!"**_ I bark, turning to my men. "I will enter first and draw their fire, once they focus on me, you and your squad are to enter and provide covering fire."

"It shall be done my lord." He replies, saluting.

I wait a few seconds as he orders his squad around, they're soon hugging the walls, out of sight of the doorway. With a nod I turn to the golden doors and wave my hand, rather than the explosive result they're expecting, my soldiers are caught off guard when the doors simply slide open by themselves.

Without a care in the world, I enter the throne room, my eyes moving quickly to take in as much detail as I can.

There are two other exits but those have been closed up, spaced around the room are close to one hundred Jaffa, their staff weapons aimed at me but not charged. On a platform behind the Jaffa warriors, dressed in robes of black silk and wearing Onyx black jewelry, Nirrti sits upon her throne, her face a mask of amused superiority. Surrounding her are ten men and women, each slightly deformed and likely sporting a powerful ability. Lastly, is the Chappa'ai, which is placed roughly ten meters behind her throne and already dialed to her escape.

**"So, this is the one who dares to attack me, a mere child? Or so you would have me believe. "** Nirrti begins, her eyes flashing as she stares at me in amusement. **"My men have seen the mark on your warriors, you cannot be who you impersonate, who are you really worm?"**

_**"I am who I am."**_ I reply with a chuckle, smirking at the displeased frown that crosses her face. _**"I am your end and the death of all Goa'uld."**_

Her face twists with rage at my words, the Goa'uld don't like being challenged.

**"Watch your tongue filth, you will pay for this attack on me and this charade that you wish to portray."** She growls back, her men shifting at the sound of their angry goddess. **"It is bad enough that you would use the mark of the Shol'va Heka but you also conspire with the Asgard, how low can you fall? When the others hear of this, they will tear you apart, assuming I leave enough of you for them to resurrect."**

**"**_**If**** the rest of your ilk hear of this, they will do nothing of the sort, I have been growing in strength these past few months yet you didn't know of my existence before this day, I am prepared for anything they can throw at me." **_I reply, bluffing out my ass. My empire can survive an invasion by any minor Goa'uld but not by a System lord or a group of Goa'uld, not yet at least but my new Computer Core will help in fixing that problem. _**"Besides, do you really think I will allow you to leave here alive? None of your men will survive to speak of this, your guard will die with you and all survivors shall join my empire."**_

**"You are truly a fool if you think you can stand against me!" **She sneers in disgust, standing from her throne **"I have a hundred warriors while you stand here alone, what chance do you have?"**

I laugh at that, as arrogantly as I can.

_**"I assaulted your palace with only one hundred soldiers, those one hundred have defeated the hundreds you have within this building."**_ I reply, taking a step forward. _**"If my Jaffa can do that against your forces, what do you think I can do? A true God against your mortal warriors."**_

She snarls and jabs a finger in my direction.

**"Kill him!"**

The Jaffa immediately open fire, a hundred bolts of plasma energy descending on my position but a simple flick of my hand raises a magical shield, deflecting all of the attacks. Three Jaffa fall from the deflected blasts, the rest managing to dodge the few bolts that fly in their direction, they have no time to be shocked as the Lieutenant and his squad rush through the doors, unloading their rifles into the mob of warriors.

The Jaffa stand no chance against my soldiers and their rifles, over half of them are mowed down under the continuous fire of the upgraded staff weapons, the rest hiding behind pillars and returning fire when the can. Nirrti, her face a mix of shock and rage turns to the Chappa'ai, the mutated humans covering her back as she flees.

As if they're going to stop me. With a flicker, I appear before her, blocking her advance just a few feet short from the gate. Her eyes go wide with shock but with great speed, she raises her hand device to strike, I'm faster. A flick of my hand magically crushes the hand device, breaking the bones in her hand and cutting it up. She screams out in pain, her eyes still wide with shock at my abilities and I take that chance to draw my wand and jab it into her throat, easily piercing through the flesh of her host and stopping at the symbiote within her.

"Imperio." I hiss, my face void of emotion as I channel my _need_ to dominate into the spell.

My magic spikes and the unforgivable curse flies from my wand, striking the symbiote directly. I can feel as my spell plows through its meager mental barriers and into its mind, connecting it to mine and bending it to my will, a quick second passes before the Imperius takes hold, turning Nirrti into nothing more than a slave to my will. My goal accomplished, I withdraw my wand, the wound to her throat already healing, and allow her to fall past me and into the wormhole.

I now have a loyal spy among the System Lords.

With their goddess safely out of the way, the ten mutated humans are free to attack me, half of them raise their hands to their heads and immediately I feel an assault against my barriers, these are telepaths. It becomes quickly apparent that while they may have the ability, they lack the skill which isn't much of a surprise, the only reason Nirrti would keep them around is if they're of no threat to herself.

With barely any effort, I strike back with my mind, boiling hot quicksilver pouring from my mind and washing over their probes. The effect is instantaneous as the five telepaths scream in pain, blood dripping from their eyes and ears as they drop to their knees, dead before they hit the ground. The other five, their faces a mix of shock and anger, raise their hands in my direction and _push_, for lack of a better term.

I'm sent flying back, passing through the deactivated Chappa'ai, and slamming into the walls of the throne room.

Telekinetics as well, joy.

Two of them keep me pressed against the wall while the other three levitate nearby staff weapons and send them flying at me, hoping to skewer me with the fast moving weapons. They're quire surprised when the staff weapons turn into a trio of lions and leap at them, claws outstretched to rip and tear. Two manage to throw the lions away, looking strained at the effort, but the last one falls under the beasts might, his throat ripped out by its mighty jaws. The lions soon turn back into staff weapons, the rushed transfigurations quickly losing power in this reality.

While the four mutants are shocked by their comrades death, I flicker away from the wall and land amidst them, the air around me crackling with golden electricity as I draw on my power. With a flex of my will, golden lightning arcs out in every direction, bearing down on all four mutants. Two of them are struck before they can react, the powerful lighting stunning and then frying them until only their smoking corpses are left. The other two manage to raise their hands in time, the lightning striking against invisible barriers and driving them to their knees but the barrage of lightning is fast, fading away before their barriers have fallen but I'm already moving by that time.

My hand plows through one of the barriers, glowing with a murky brown light, and I grab the mutant by the throat. He gasps as for air as his throat shrivels, the effect rapidly spreading to the rest of his body as my curse vanishes all of the water inside his body. By the time I toss him aside and turn to the last mutant, his entire form is nothing but a shriveled up husk, one good hit might just turn him into dust.

The last mutant stares in fear, his hands up in surrender and his eyes pleading for mercy, it's too bad that I can't have any witnesses, these ten saw me cast a spell on Nirrti and then allow her to leave, I cant have that information getting out. Spears of fire, ten in all, pierce through his torso, cauterizing the wounds as they pass but still killing him instantly.

I turn my back on the decimated mutants and take in the rest of the room, I'm proud to note that my squad of twenty soldiers has managed to wipe out all one hundred Jaffa, taking zero casualties at the same time.

All in all this has been a successful mission.

My soldiers and vehicles have proven superior against the forces of a System Lord, I've managed to capture not only the DNA Resequencer but also the Chappa'ai that Nirrti was kind enough to uproot for me and lastly, I've made Nirrti herself my slave and taken control of her entire territory.

A successful mission indeed.

* * *

**"The boy has acquired the Genetic Manipulation Device, surely he must be stopped."**

**"No, the device is of no consequence."**

**"I agree, we put blocks on it long ago, he will not ascend through the device."**

**"I disagree, he is becoming a threat, more so now that the Asgard have joined with him, they have given him access to greater power."**

**"There is nothing we can do, he remains a mortal, interference would make us no better than the Ori."**

**"Very well, for the sake of the covenant we shall stay our hand but the time is soon approaching when he will tread upon our domain, we must decide what to do at that time."**

**"What is to decide? He will become one of the Ori should he ascend, we must destroy him!"**

**"Perhaps, perhaps not, he has won the allegiance of the Asgard and they have always been good judges of character, if they are willing to ally with him then perhaps he could become one of us."**

**"Don't be a fool, the boy is not one of us. Should he ascend, he will not leave his empire behind, he will interfere in the mortal realm!"**

**"There is nothing we can do now but wait and see, we will see whether he is one of us or one of the Ori."**

**"Very well, we shall watch and we shall wait, agreed?"**

**"Agreed."**


	10. Base

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**_"Text."_** - God voice.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Base**

"Lord Heka, the palace and city have been secured, what are your commands?" Asha'ka asks, coming to a stop before me and saluting.

I nod and survey the area, smirking in satisfaction as I see my forces spread out all over the landscape, Nirrti's remaining forces have surrendered without their goddess and the entire planet is now under my complete control. The Asgard themselves have already left, requesting that I get in contact about the DNA Resequencer as soon as possible.

Overly trusting midgets, they're just lucky that I plan on keeping my word.

_'So much work to do.'_ I sigh tiredly, running through my list of chores.

I have to work on the DNA Resequencer, decipher the Asgard computer core as _apparently_ the Asgard saw fit to keep much of their data in the Asgardian Language and a good amount of it doesn't translate well into Goa'uld to begin with, not to mention my need to find a new location for my most valuable machines and the added work of dealing with the breakdown and reconstruction of Nirrti's territories.

_'Far too much work for one person... oh!' _I grin as a sudden idea strikes me, this has potential.

**_"Bring the people to the palace, we shall enlighten them to the truth of the Goa'uld and show them the true path."_** I command, turning towards the palace itself, which is already being torn down for raw materials. Once that is done, several of my guard will add it to the next supply shipment headed for Raini, where it will be fed to the computer core for future use. _**"Once they are gathered, contact Surei and station three units on this world, I want my new warriors trained as soon as possible."**_

"Yes my Lord." She replies, saluting and hurrying away.

I make my way up the palace stairs, preparing to sway thousands of people into worshiping me, just another day in the life of a ruler.

_'Psh, and I could be in school right now.'_

* * *

Three inspiring speeches and a large display of magic later, my empire has grown by another seventy thousand subjects, fifteen thousand of which are warriors that are now in my service rather than Nirrti's. This planet, Shakha, is located near the center of Nirrti's territory, it is her largest world and essentially her main base. With fourteen planets, twenty Ha'tak and a score of Al'kesh, Tel'taks and Death Gliders, Nirrti has quite a large territory, all of which belongs to me now.

Nirrti herself, as per the orders sent through the Imperio mind link, is currently healing her battle wounds. Once shes all healed up, she'll return to rule as a figurehead, enforcing my rule and serving to act as a smokescreen against the other System Lords. I will also be able to use her to gather the minor Goa'uld in her empire, allowing me to either take control of their minds or to strike them down, either way, there wont be a Goa'uld left alive or uncontrolled in this system when I'm done.

Having Nirrti's backing will also make it easier to capture her territories, once the minor Goa'uld are dealt with, I'll have her travel to her current worlds and give speeches in my place before I arrive on the worlds. If all goes well, I'll be able to conquer her territory with minimal bloodshed on both sides. Of course, there are still some difficulties involved, spies for one. I have Surei and Fal'nor, the latter of which is training to serve as my spymaster, weeding out spies in Nirrti's forces but it will be quite difficult to capture them all.

My most difficult task after claiming Fujin's empire was rooting out all the spies, I'd been forced to place all six worlds in a lock down, preventing travel off-world and blocking all forms of communication. City-wide Legilimency scans were also helpful in this regard, I couldn't read minds but I could still detect those with negative intent, allowing my guard to arrest them for a full mind scanning.

I couldn't afford to have word of my existence spread to the System Lords just yet, so obviously those that were spies were immediately put to death if they couldn't be swayed to my side. Considering the fact that Nirrti knew nothing of my existence, I'd say it worked well.

Shakha, being the main base of operations of a System Lord, is likely to have far more spies than all six of Fujin's worlds put together. That's why it was immediately put into a lock-down once I captured it, the Chappa'ai is sealed with a shield, all ships are grounded and all communications blocked. The only way anyone is getting off this planet is with my mark on their body and that still comes with strenuous identity checks, it will take some time to completely absorb Nirrti's territory but it will be well worth it in the end.

With Nirrti's territory and her forces added to mine, I'll have enough strength to stand against the Goa'uld, not a combined force of them but I'll be able to face any one or two Goa'uld in battle. That's not even counting the fact that I now have the Asgard Computer Core, this will decrease the time required to arm the newest members of my army and once I've redesigned some of the existing technology and added a few simple modifications, my spacecraft will surpass that of my enemies.

The Computer Core will be a very important facet in my future plans, with it, I will be able to quickly build up my armada and equip my army with improved weapons in far less time than I could have with my factories. Especially once I use the first Core to create secondary Sub-Cores, each with their own matter conversion device, the Asgard really got the short end of our deal.

Which reminds me, I should probably get to work on my end of the bargain, they're valuable allies and I want to keep them that way. Refusing to cure them would likely lead to the prompt annihilation of my empire, not even their war with the Replicators would stop them from retaliating with overwhelming force if I betray them over something like this.

Besides, I gave my word and I'm not about to break it, not without a good reason at least.

With that thought in mind, I teleport myself away, leaving Surei in charge of claiming this world.

* * *

Appearing on Raini an instant later, I'm just in time to see the Resequencer being set up by a team of technicians, the Ha'tak carrying it having made it here hours ago. The Resequencer, despite my misgivings, has been set up inside the refinery as I have nowhere else to put it at this moment, this place may be safe right now but I really need to move my more valuable devices out of here as soon as possible.

Besides working with the Resequencer, I need to deal with another device I looted from Nirrti, a Sarcophagus. With these two machines, I'm well on my way to immortality but it will take some time to study them, I don't want to screw this up. While the Sarcophagus alone can grant me some form of immortality, the degeneration of my psyche is a side effect that I have no wish to experience, I'll likely find a use for it but it defiantly won't serve as my main source of immortality.

Besides, I want true immortality, not the quasi-immortality of a Sarcophagus. All a Sarcophagus does is heal wounds to the point that it can bring back the recently deceased, so unless someone can retrieve my body, revive me and somehow tie my soul to that new body, it would be pretty useless but that is an issue for another time. Right now I have bigger things to worry about, such as my workload, there's much that needs to be done and very few that I can delegate to my subjects.

Set up beside the Computer Core is a separate machine, an Asgard stasis pod that has been modified for human use, within which my mindless clone is stored. The clone, having been a flawed yet perfect copy created by Loki, has all the requirements of a regular human body, the pod keeps it in stasis as I have no other form of life support.

I hadn't really planned to do anything with this clone, not until I can use the Resequencer at least but right now I don't have much choice, there's just too much work to do by myself.

* * *

It's a weird feeling, being in two bodies at once, almost like I'm being stretched in two separate directions. When I had the symbiote within me it was less noticeable since I only had to focus on one body, with the symbiote stored within my clone however, it's just plain weird. It's a bit disconcerting at first, being in two places at once but after several long minutes, I managed to get the general hang of it.

That doesn't stop it from feeling weird though, _not _in the slightest.

Still, it's required.

With two bodies under my control, I can do my work in half the time, using my Occlumency to split my attention and complete multiple projects at the same time. Unfortunately, with my magic being connected to both my soul and mind it's also split between the two bodies, leaving me weaker unless both bodies are focused on the same goal. Having access to only half my power at a time is, to say the least, off-putting but so long as I don't do anything too strenuous, I should be fine.

Luckily, I can recall the other half of my mind and power to either body at any time but it takes some time depending on the distance, the major downside is that moving the entirety of my mind and power to one body will leave the other completely brain dead until I reconnect with it. Despite these few difficulties, I find this split to be a boon.

Right now, it's a race against time to fortify my empire and prepare for the eventual clash against the Goa'uld. Regardless of my precautions, I know that some spies will slip through, informing the others of my existence. Eventually, the System Lords will hear of me and the only way my empire will survive is to show the pathetic snakes that it's too costly to start a war with me.

Should I succeed, the Goa'uld will have to capitulate and form a temporary treaty between our two empires, giving me time to grow in power before I eventually betray them. Should I fail... well, failure is not an option so I'll just have to work hard. All I need is time to prepare, prepare so that I'm able to destroy the Goa'uld when the time comes.

Which is why I'm currently on Raini, devouring every little bit of information I can from the Computer Core, analyzing the basics of Asgard technology so that I can build on it. At the same time, I'm also testing the full capabilities of the Resequencer on a few of Nirrti's human guinea pigs, learning to work the machine by repairing the damage she's done to their DNA, it also helps that I had Nirrti send every little bit of data she compiled on the machine.

I estimate it'll take me close to three months to learn everything I can about basic Asgard technology and use it to supplement my knowledge of Goa'uld sciences, once I'm done with the Core, I can turn my full attention to the Resequencer, which should take roughly six weeks on its own. I'd expected it to take far longer than that but the machine seems to react to my Alteran bloodline, guiding my actions and helping me learn, It was like I already knew how to use it but some how forgot and just need to refresh my memory.

It's a strange feeling but this is simply an example of just what it was that had made the Alteran a legendary race, no machine in the Goa'uld could do the same off of a single gene.

Four and a half months is a lot of time to focus on just two projects, I have to delegate the other none essential tasks to my most trusted subjects. I'm just glad that I have no need to sleep, my meditation allowing me to be fully refreshed after just one hour of rest, the extra hours to work will help me to finish quickly.

* * *

**-Five Months Later-**

With Surei overseeing the restructuring of Nirrti's territory, sending me the odd report and requesting my advice, I'm able to put both of my bodies to work on Raini.

Finally, after months of testing and studying, I have complete mastery of the Core and Resequencer or at least as much of it as I'm allowed. I had been a bit peeved to find that many of the Resequencer's capabilities, namely the ones relating to the brain, are blocked off to me, my attempts to unblock them failing against the superior knowledge of the Ancients. Regardless of the blocks, the Resequencer has the capability to cure the Asgard and serve my needs.

The Asgard were especially gleeful to hear this news, in fact, I'm _sure_ Thor actually smiled at one point, though it was hard to tell. That particular Asgard is harder to read than a Goblin, it actually pleases me that Loki is so… expressive of his emotions. Knowing that there is a cure for their affliction, the Asgard Council decides to send me their next batch of clone bodies to modify and repair, and if I happen to perform some experiments on the bodies while doing so?

Well, no one needs to know, right?

"This is kind of weird." I mutter glancing over at my companion.

"Oh? How so?" He asks, raising a brow in question.

"Well, just last week you were a scrawny little creature, far shorter than I am." I reply with a frown. "Now look at you."

Loki smirks as he looks down at me, his face twisted in smug satisfaction, his new form stands at roughly six feet and is quite human in appearance with long black hair and piercing blue eyes, the slightly larger cranium and grey skin being the only thing that sets him apart from a regular human. It also makes him look like a smug, pretentious ass, especially with the armored robes he wears, though they do look quite nice and it gives me some ideas for my own clothing.

Did I mention how glad I am that the reversion to their natural form has given the Asgard a sense of decency? It's not much by human standards but it's enough of one for them to put on clothes. I would have severed our alliance without hesitation if I'd had to deal with both a naked Thor and a naked Loki.

"Impressive is it not?" Loki asks, smirking down at me. "It feels so good to be back inside a true body, you have my thanks for that."

"Whatever." I grumble, turning back to my work on the core. "Why are you here and how did you even get in here?"

He chuckles, the sound serving to further increase my annoyance.

"You of all people should know the capabilities of the Asgard, it was a simple task to find you and beam down to your location." he replies with that damnable smirk. "I was under the impression that my clone was a failure."

I look up to see him focused on my second body, which is currently disassembling the Sarcophagus with my bare hands, I could have done it faster with magic but Loki is far less annoying when I can shift half my attention elsewhere.

"Why are you here Loki?" I ask once more, ignoring his attempt to gain information. "Being allies doesn't give you free reign within my territories."

He simply smirks.

"The council has come to a decision on your secondary offer." he says as way of explanation, his eyes still locked on the clone.

"And?" I ask, turning to him as he's peaked my interest.

"They refuse your offer." Loki replies, looking far too pleased to deliver that news. "The repository is far too valuable to hand over, we will continue our efforts to decipher it and defeat the replicators."

"Really." I mutter evenly, keeping my rage from coloring my tone. "Technically, as an Alteran, the repository belongs to me."

His eyes turn to me, finally leaving the clones form.

"It was gifted to us by the last of the true Alteran, it is ours by right ." he counters.

Another flash of anger is suppressed by my defenses.

"Very well." I reply, turning back to my work.

A bright flash of light denotes Loki's departure, his message delivered. I'm quite furious with the Asgard, the information on that repository is mine by blood yet they hoard it for themselves, the little bastards will rue this day. A second flash of light draws my attention as my clone is beamed away, only to flicker back a second later and return to its work, Loki is such an annoying bastard sometimes.

* * *

**'Where have you been?'** Salem shouts as I enter the tent, leaping to his feet in anger.

_'Working.'_

**'Working? WORKING! It's been months!'** he shrieks angrily, tail swinging wildly.

_'I had a lot of work.'_

**'You little shit, bugger your work! You did this on purpose, leaving me with those demons!'**

I smirk at that, my bad mood alleviating as I take in his appearance, nicely groomed and decked out in jewelry, Mina definitely got her hands on him. Despite being a commander with many duties of her own, Mina still finds the time to take care of Salem, much to his annoyance and my amusement.

_'Nooo..'_ I reply, trailing off in a most unbelievable manner.

**'I'll fucking kill you!'**

Chuckling merrily, I dodge five tons of giant, enraged wild cat and flicker to my study, where my computer is stored. I'm glad to see that I've received the latest report from Nirrti, which includes a list of her many planets and their specific details. One world catches my attention, a small farming planet with a population of just fifteen hundred, it will serve my needs. With Shakha fully under my control, I'm ready to claim the rest of Nirrti's territory but before I do that, I need an outpost to deploy my forces from in that section of the Galaxy, this planet will be perfect.

The planet, Hanaka, has plenty of free space and a small population, it should be simple enough to set up an outpost and eventually a full military base there, especially once Nirrti's spare Chappa'ai is moved there and connected to the network. With that settled, I send the instructions ahead to Surei and take a seat at my computer, I have plans to draw up and a secret base to design.

With my current projects complete, I can now move on to my secondary goals, immortality and expanding my empire. One body is still on Raini, disassembling the sarcophagus in order to study its true nature, as well as working to unblock the locks on the Resequencer. While that body is delving into the different methods to achieve immortality, my second has been tasked with building a secret base of operations, a place when I can hide my most valuable technologies and work in secret.

* * *

**-Three Months Later-**

With one body working on a variety of smaller projects, a majority of the work delegated to the now experienced technicians in my forces, I had plenty of time for my other body to finish his task, building a secret base.

Rather than building the base on an unknown world or in a hidden location on one of my worlds, I've chosen to build it inside the largest of the four moons orbiting Lii, the second largest planet in Fujin's former territory. I've chosen to make these six worlds my core worlds as not only are they at the farthest end of the galaxy from Goa'uld controlled space, they are also my first claimed territory and that holds some sentimental value, that's why my personal base will also be built in this system.

The entire base is hidden near the core of the nameless moon, it's a large sprawling complex but it's buried so deep that even the Asgardian sensors will be unable to find it, not even the energy emissions can be detected at that depth. Building the complex by myself was truly draining work, especially as I only had access to half my magic at the time, luckily I was able to use some of my new technology to circumvent that limitation.

I started construction by using the Computer Core to create a Sub-core for my personal use, that Sub-core was then used to fabricate ten by ten by ten foot blocks of titanium, using the naturally occurring titanium found near the core of the moon as raw materials. Once created, the blocks were immediately beamed directly below the surface by an Asgard transporter while a second transporter beamed all the rocks, minerals and dirt out of the area and fed them to the core. Careful use of the transporters allowed me to basically phase the blocks together, leaving the finished construction perfectly seamless.

With this method, I was able to complete the entire complex on my own in little time, finishing a job that would normally take years with hundreds of workers in just a matter of days. The finished complex is made up of a variety of rooms of various sizes, all randomly spread out and lacking doors, elevators and transporters. Each room is pretty much isolated, my personal method of teleportation being the only way to get around, which should serve as a passive defense if this base is ever discovered.

The first room is a wide open area with simple dividers splitting it into smaller sections, this is my personal lab. The lab is split into main sections, Magic and Science. In the Magic Section, I've set up a series of bookcases and filled them with all of my magical tomes and scrolls, a computer setup beside them containing digital copies as well as my own notes. I've also chosen to store the quantum mirror in this section, a powerful force field serving to block entrance to unexpected visitors from alternate realities. Lastly is the potions lab taking up a majority of this section, I have dozens of different cauldrons made of a variety of metals, a Naquadah shelf and fridge with stasis runes serving as a storage for my small supply of materials.

Over on the science side of the room, I have the DNA Resequencer safely stored away, I still use it from time to time in my experiments but its normally left unused. In addition to that, I have three Sarcophagi that I liberated from the minor Goa'uld that once served Nirrti, they have no use for them now. The room also contains my knockoff version of the Asgard Consciousness Transfer Device, which is connected to a computer holding all of my gathered knowledge, as well as a stasis pod holding a nonfunctional clone of myself. Altogether, this section is devoted to my quest for immortality, with one of my bodies in here on a constant basis performing experiments.

The second room is packed full of several dozen Sub-cores and a handful of supercomputers, this room is dedicated to building whatever I want en masse, hundreds of guns, spare parts, ship parts and vehicle parts rolling out of here on a constant basis. The Sub-cores, created from the Computer Core but limited in ability, have replaced all machinery in all of my factories. Combined together with the finished products created in this room, my factories are now able to outfit several thousand soldiers on a weekly basis, all spare products going into storage for future use.

Next is the third room in my strange complex, the power room. Within this room, I have two large Neutrino-Ion Generators courtesy of the Asgard database, one is enough to power the entire complex but I keep a second on hand in case of emergencies. I'd originally wanted to use the more advanced power core from the database, which would have provided enough energy to power five such complexes, but the device would have released a subspace signal that would reveal the location and existence of my base to anyone with a powerful enough sensor system.

Lastly is the largest of the four rooms, in fact, simply calling it large is an understatement of epic proportions. Stored within this room are three dry docks, each capable of holding a vessel the size of a Ha'tak, complete with the triangle shaped superstructure. Surrounding each dry dock is a series of beam transporters, each networked to one of the three supercomputers in the room. This entire room is constantly filled with bright flashes as the transporters above beam ship and vehicle parts directly into the room, assembling whole vessels in a matter of days, the programmed designs creating the vessels in as seamless a manner as possible.

This same method is also used by the two space docks surrounding the planet my base orbits, allowing me to beam out the completed vessels and add them to my growing armada, hundreds of my newly designed vehicles and starships are being assembled day after day with this method. It takes roughly three days to assemble a fighter craft or an armored carrier, ten days for a scout ship or tank, twelve for a bomber craft and twenty-one for full on mothership, far less time than it would take at a regular dry or space dock. With those numbers in such a small amount of time, I will soon have more vehicles and vessels than I will solders capable of crewing them, enough to challenge one of the more powerful System Lords and come out on top.

This entire base has been a huge drain on my resources, I couldn't just pull away the resources going to my many factories so several of my Ha'tak were scrapped for raw materials, no one would question me on it but there will still be those that are curious. Given another six or seven months, I would have had more than enough materials to divert some from my factories but I don't have the time, the Goa'uld could learn of my existence at any time and launch an attack on my fledgling empire.

Now however, I welcome their attack, my weapons, vehicles and vessels are all receiving upgrades and will be capable of handling what the Goa'uld throw at us.

* * *

Knowing that Asgard technology is far superior to Goa'uld technology, I had one of my bodies draw up new designs and plans, which were then implemented immediately. With the Computer Core and the Sub-cores, all of my soldiers will be completely outfitted in just a few months time, a task that would have taken far longer to complete without them.

All three of the guns have been refitted, the Naquadah and Steel components being replaced with the Naquadah/Trinium/Carbon (NTC) composite metal of the Asgard, making all my weapons -Vibroknife included- lighter without reducing their durability. In addition to this refit, I've also replace the Liquid Naquadah power source with an Asgardian Neutronium power source to increase their base capabilities, making them more accurate, powerful and increasing their range. Another bonus with this upgrade is that the assault rifles and snipers can be used for longer periods of time, the new metal takes far longer to overheat so my soldiers can unload at full power without worrying about burning themselves.

In addition to these upgrades, I've also reshaped their casings, making them sleeker and less bulky. The sniper rifle has also bed outfitted with a collapsible tripod, which will help in the aiming and firing of the weapon, especially as there's no recoil with the plasma weapons.

With these upgrades, I'm more concerned with my weapons falling into the wrong hands so I've reinforced the self-destruct system. Each fabricated weapon is created with the self-destruct rune matrix I'd invented months ago, a specially created and empowered wardstone serving to provide the magic to power the runes, allowing the weapons to still turn into dust if handled by someone without my mark. One of the flaws in my previous design was that a intense scan by my enemies could activate the self-destruct system, leaving my soldiers with no weapons or vehicles, a flaw that I've fixed with the new runes.

* * *

Vehicle wise, I've replaced all the Naquadah and Steel hulls with the NTC composite metal and upgraded their shields, allowing them to shrug off far more damage than before. The staff cannons have all been replaced with an upgraded version based on Asgardian technology, as they are new inventions of my creation, I've decided to call them Plasma Cannons. The plasma cannons are more powerful and larger than the staff cannons, capable of dealing more damage over a greater distance, the most powerful ones which are installed on the upgraded tanks are capable of downing an Al'kesh in one shot.

While the Patrol Vehicles are left mostly the same, the aforementioned upgrade notwithstanding, the Armored Carriers and Tanks are much different in form. Rather than two main cannons and a third swiveling cannon, the Plasma Tank now has a single, powerful main cannon, six smaller, forward facing cannons and a swiveling cannon on each side of the vehicle. As for the carrier, its been refit so it's sleeker in form, allowing it to move far faster and hover much higher than before, the carrying capacity has also been increased to roughly fifty passengers.

The last addition to these three vehicles is what I call the Vehicle Recall System. When activated by the pilot or remotely from a mothership, the system will send out a signal through an embedded beacon, which is then picked up by the nearest mothership. After a scan to check for harmful materials such as bombs and biological weapons, the mothership will then activate a beam transporter which would beam the vehicle into the cargo bay of the vessel. This allows for the quick insertion and withdrawal of my vehicles, lessening the chance of having them stolen or requiring a self-destruct.

With my current machines rebuilt and upgraded, I moved on to creating new and superior technology for my forces, namely grenades and armor.

* * *

In the way of hand grenades, the Goa'uld have a few variants, the Takunitagaminituron which fires small bursts of energy at nearby heat signatures and the Tok'Kal which is basically a flashbang/stun grenade mix. While these have their uses, I wanted something small, light and explosive, a grenade that can be used to handle a large group of enemies or destroy obstructions.

The answer is the plasma grenade, a small item similar in appearance to earths frag grenades, except rather than a pin there's a button at the top. These buttons are built so that they require a great amount of effort to press, effort far beyond a human but well within the range of a Jaffa, this prevents the grenades from activating at the slightest push. Once the button is pressed, the Potassium and Naquadah held separately within the device are mixed, creating an unstable reaction. Five seconds after the button is pressed, the grenade explodes with powerful force, causing a great deal of damage and shooting shrapnel in all directions.

Lastly the grenades are equipped with a warning feature, informing my soldiers of just when they're about to blow so there're no casualties on my part. When activated, the entire grenade begins to glow blue on a sub-visibility frequency, making them invisible to the naked eye but brightly illuminated when viewed with the proper tools.

Which brings me the most important component to my Jaffa's new arsenal, Power Armor.

* * *

As the traditional Jaffa armor is quite weak functionally and very distinct in appearance, I've created a new suit of armor for my forces, armor that will be distinct to my empire so we are no longer mistaken for the Goa'uld.

Appearance wise, the new armor is both intimidating and inspiring, it's a sleek design created with a mix of metal plates and reinforced cloth. The armor of the general forces is made up of several plates of the thin NTC composite metal over a black full body suit, the suit completely covering all skin from the neck down to the toes.

Despite looking soft and flimsy, the body suit is formed of a Trinium/Kevlar nano-composite material, which makes it incredible strong yet flexible at the same time. Squeezed between the two layers of the suit is a thin layer of energy absorbing gel which hardens when struck by physical force and is capable of reducing the damage of a plasma bolt, not much but enough to make grazing shots superficial. As for the metal plating, its makeup makes is lighter than the old Jaffa armor but it's far more durable and capable of shrugging off direct shots from a staff weapon.

On its own, this armor is very effective and deadly but what makes it the best however, are the many technological additions. The greatest example of this is the helmet, a full helmet of the same NTC composite metal, with a one way visor made of the thickest glass I could fabricate. The entire helmet comes programmed with a wide variety of visual enhancements, including a targeting system, a highly customizable HUD, a communications device and many others. With the helmet equipped, my soldiers are capable of working efficiently in all sorts of light conditions and are granted a great amount of awareness of their surroundings, enemy and ally positions, and objective awareness locations in battle.

Aside from the helmet, the armor is also full of several enhancements, all of which are powered by a Neutronium power cell, placed directly on the chest of the suit but protected by layers of metal plating. All enhancements, especially the ones in the helmet, are controlled by a neural interface based off of Asgardian tech but modified to work for humans and Jaffa.

This is especially helpful when it comes to the electromagnetic holsters built into the suit, one on the back and one on each hip. When connected to the strips on each of my weapons, the holsters are capable of keeping all weapons firmly in place, rendering them unmovable unless a mental command is given to free the weapon in question. Seeing the effectiveness of the holsters, I've also attached strips to the armors gauntlets, making it near impossible to disarm one of my soldiers.

What I consider the most important components of the armor however, are the Personal Shield Generator and the Force-amplifying Circuits. When deployed, the form fitting shield built into the armor is capable of shrugging off close to a dozen blasts from a staff weapon before being depleted, this is made more effective as the shield can easily recover to full strength after a few seconds behind cover.

As for the Force-Amplifying Circuits, these are a special set of electronic pathways that run through the entire suit, the full circuit is capable of of amplifying the kinetic force the wearer can exert by a factor of two. This makes my already enhanced soldiers twice as fast and twice as strong as the average Jaffa, when coupled with the speed of thought reaction time of the neural interface, this armor essentially creates the perfect super soldier.

The final enhancement is to the suits specifically designed for the Medic division, the Gauntlets of these suits come equipped with an upgraded healing device, allowing my medics to heal civilians and their fellow soldiers with a wave of their gloves. This addition has made the medics one of the most recognized and beloved divisions in my army, the color of their armor allowing them to stand out and their medical skills garnering them a reputation among my civilian subjects.

While each set of armor is nearly indistinguishable, the Medic armor being the only one with a separate enhancement of its own, each division is easily identifiable by its color. Medics are easily identifiable by their white plated armor, pilots and engineers are equipped with red plated armor and the infantry, snipers and officers are all decked in black armor.

Other than the color, there is nothing to set the three armor types apart, meaning no markings or anything that can reveal the ranks of my soldiers to my enemies. The only way to know the ranks of my various soldiers is by wearing one of the suits, a modification to the HUD allowing the wearer to see the names and ranks of their fellow soldiers, which will come in very handy if any infiltrators or spies try to sneak around in one of these suits.

While the suits of the general forces are powerful and a game changer in future warfare, the suits I've designed for my commanders are even more formidable. Rather than the simpler cloth and plating armor of the general forces, my commanders are equipped with a full body exoskeleton, the regular commanders wearing a rust red suit while Surei is equipped in a hulking, white and yellow suit.

In addition to the enhancements of the power armor, the exoskeletons also come with an air filter in the helmets, an oxygen tank on the back and a cooling unit in full suit as the entire exoskeleton is pressure sealed, allowing my commanders to survive diving to deep depths or floating in open space. The communications device and HUD of the suit have been modified so my commanders can speak to large groups of soldiers at the same time as well as track all soldiers and enemies in real time with their sensor arrays, allowing them to manage the entire battlefield to their own discretion. Lastly is the Force-Amplifying Circuits of the exoskeletons, these are the main reason the suits are so much larger than those of the general forces, these circuits are capable of improving the physical capabilities of my commanders by a factor of five, making them far deadlier than the general forces of my army.

To protect the secrets of my suits, I've attached the same self-destruct system used in my weapons as well as the recall device used in my vehicles. These recall devices have also been modified to work in two ways, the first being that they can teleport my soldiers' weapons directly to their person, provided a beam transporter is close enough to do so. The second function works much like the beacons in my vehicles and will transport the soldiers to the nearest starship when activated, allowing me to easily dispatch and recall my forces at a moments notice.

With all these powerful enhancements, these suits are perhaps the greatest creations I can offer my soldiers, they will be incredibly powerful and dangerous in their power armor. There is one major flaw with the armor however, all of the enhancements built into the armor will fail should the helmet be removed or take too much damage, leaving the soldier with a simple but somewhat effective metal suit. While this is a major flaw, it's required because it allows me to utilize the neural interface.

Each interface has one major command programmed into it, "Do not allow harm to come to your creator" with myself programmed into the role of creator. These interfaces essentially stop the wearer from harming or attacking me while the suit is on, meaning that the suits can never be used against me, if I've learned anything from reading so much it's this 'If you trust your minions with anything that can be used against you, it most likely will be'.

* * *

My last creation in the way of armor comes in the form of my own clothing, I've replaced my old clothes with a new set of personally designed robes and while I would have loved to create my own super-powered suit of armor, it just couldn't be done. The worship of my people is based on their belief in my divinity, using a powerful suit of armor would dissuade this belief, if I want to continue increasing my worshipers and the power they grant me, I'll need to further the belief of my divine majesty, that means no high tech suits of armor.

My new clothes, a mix of armor and robes, are made in a mix of wizarding fashion and Loki's fashionable style, and dear god do I hope he never learns of that, the annoying shit would never let me live it down. Where Loki has robes of black, silver and green, a color scheme that I once favored but can't stand to wear anymore because of him, my clothes are now black silver, and red.

My new clothes start off with the Trinium/Kevlar nano-composite body suit and over top of that is my black and silver Nundu coat, the powerful magical protection transferring into a slight bit of energy protection in this reality. Next is an armored vest made of a mesh of Naquadah threads, the last of my Nundu pelt and the Trinium/Kevlar material, this mesh is also used to make the gloves and boots of my outfit. The last item of the outfit is a black, hooded cloak with a red lining made of Naquadah threads and the Trinium/Kevlar nano-composite, the chest and upper arms of the cloak are also fitted with a plating of NTC for both style and protection.

All in all, it's a fashionable and functional outfit with great offensive and defensive capabilities, the material and padding offer protection from both plasma weapons and kinetic damage, while the Naquadah threads allow me to focus my magic through my clothes, allowing me to remove the Naquadah in my bloodstream. While I would have preferred to keep the Naquadah in my bloodstream, a permanent focus that couldn't be taken away easily, it's become a bit of a liability. What with the Asgard and their Shock Spears, I wouldn't put it past Loki to try and get some revenge for that Cruciatus on our first meeting, he just a bastard that way.

* * *

With my weapons, vehicles and armor complete, I moved on to the one weakness in my empire, my starships. With the Asgards technology at my fingertips, I decide to completely scrap the obsolete Goa'uld technology and improve all my ships, starting with the Death Gliders and moving up to the Ha'tak. However, my first creation is one of my own making, something I will need once the true battle begins, an orbital defense system.

The orbital defense satellites are basically free floating, galaxy-class lasers, the secondary weapon on all Asgard motherships and while they're weaker than their Ion Guns, they're just as effective against the Goa'uld. These satellites are roughly fifty meters long and twenty-five meters at their widest, far too small and simple to require much effort, allowing me to be mass produce them by the hundreds. A single satellite is composed of a galaxy-class laser, powered by a Neutronium generator, linked to a built-in motherboard and sensor array, with eight thrusters pointing in different directions for propulsion.

Several hundred of these satellites can be set to orbit a planet, floating freely with no serious function until the planet comes under attack, activating the satellites and causing them to retaliate against the invading force. Using their powerful sensors, these satellites are able to differentiate between enemy and allied forces and act accordingly, which means blowing the hell out of any enemies they can find.

Once the satellites are designed, I move on to my spacecraft.

* * *

For my fighters, the scarab-like form of the Death Glider is completely scrapped, replaced with a more streamline form similar to Earth's fighter jets but still alien in appearance. The small fighters, which are unnamed but referred to as Fighter craft or just Fighters, are built to serve as my main force in atmospheric combat, which means that they'll need to be able to take down enemy fighters as well as deal damage against larger ships.

Powered by an array of Neutronium generators, the fighters are equipped with three, forward facing plasma cannons, as well as four missile pods loaded with Naquadah-tipped warheads. These weapons, despite their small size, are powerful enough to cause noticeable damage to the shields of a Goa'uld Ha'tak and when working together, a group of these fighters should be able to take down said vessel.

The fighters control systems have also been upgraded in comparison to the Death Gliders, the Goa'uld stick controls replaced with a neural interface control system, allowing the pilot to control the entire vessel with their mind alone and making the fighters far more maneuverable than a Death Glider. Aside from the pilot, the vessel also seats a co-pilot and a spare passenger, adding more assistance should the fighter ever find itself stranded, especially if the added passenger is a technician.

As I don't see my fighters or their pilots as expendable, I've expended the little effort required to improve the defenses of my fighters. The entire vessel is plated with the NTC composite metal, improving its basic defensive capabilities and making it light and strong, coupled with a shield generator similar to the ones on my land vehicles, the fighters will be able to absorb a large amount of damage before they fall.

With both its offensive and defensive capabilities handled, I also install an inertia dampener for my pilots comfort, a sensor array for combat and sublight engines for transport. I want these fighters to serve as the bulk of my space fleet, both in space and within the atmosphere, I expect them to be capable of facing off against a slew of Death Gliders and any other vessels that the Goa'uld can throw at me.

* * *

The bombers I've created to replace the Goa'uld Al'kesh are much smaller and sleeker than the original bombers, looking like a futuristic version of earths larger vessels. As my bombers are to only serve in a combat capacity, I've created them so they can be easily crewed by three soldiers people using a series of neural-interface computer consoles.

Powered by two small Neutrino-Ion generators, the engines of the vessel have been upgraded to include both an Asgard propulsion system as well as improved sublight engines, allowing the vessels easy movement both within the atmosphere and in space. To assist with combat, each vessel has five galaxy-class lasers in addition to a small bomb bay which can easily hold a hundred Naquadah bombs, each roughly the size of a basketball and capable of destroying a large swath of land.

While the vessel is filled with a slew of technological advancements, such as its holographic communication system and powerful sensor array, the one device that makes it truly superior to the Goa'uld Al'kesh is the beam transporter array. When used in conjunction with the sensor array, the beam transporters are able to teleport their bombs from the bay directly to the target location, their only limit being the range of the sensors. Used properly, my bombers are capable of delivering their entire payload without once flying over the battlefield and combined with their shields and NTC plating, they are some of the most powerful weapons in my arsenal.

It's only a pity that the Asgard already have a device to block this method of transport, teleporting a bomb right into Loki's vessel would have been worth the consequences.

* * *

The next vessel to receive an upgrade is the Tel'tak, which has been remade into an offensive transport vessel, the vessels are designed to deal a great amount of damage to my enemies, all while serving as a transport or scouting areas that I cant search through with my sensors.

With the inclusion of beam transporters to my arsenal, I don't really need a spacecraft that serves as a troop or cargo carrier, everything can be easily beamed to its target location. Regardless of this fact, it doesn't hurt to be prepared so my scouts are built with enough space for the crew of two, as well as an extra fifty passengers, in addition to this the vessels also contain a massive cargo bay capable of handling up to forty thousand kilograms of added weight.

Combat wise, the vessel is powered by a large Neutrino-Ion generator and two smaller generators of the same make, all of which provide power to its five galaxy-class lasers, four missile pods and five plasma cannons. The hull is composed of the same NTC composite metal of all my vessels, with a powerful shield projector as an added defense. The inclusion of a interstellar hyperdrive to its sublight engines and propulsion system, allows this vessel to travel anywhere in the galaxy, the self-destruct and recall systems included to serve as a fail safe.

As I plan to also use these vessels in civilian matters, the Transport Vessel is equipped with a state of the art medical facility, a powerful cloaking system to hide from sensors, a stasis bay for medical emergencies or prisoner detainment, and close to a hundred escape pods should the need ever arise. While the bombers may be the most powerful vessels in my army, and the fighters the most numerous, I've designed the transport vessel to have the most versatility and usefulness.

* * *

For the legion's motherships, I was glad to scrap the Goa'uld Ha'tak and build my own vessels from scratch, not only is Ha'tak more of a transport vessel than it is a warship, it is also very iconic and known far and wide as a vessel of the Goa'uld empire. I want to set my new empire as far apart from the Goa'uld as possible, this is a great way to do that, with a few other differences helping to solidify the image.

As the average Ha'tak is nothing more than a large, hollow pyramid that requires a massive superstructure to be effective, I've scrapped all knowledge I have on the Ha'tak and designed my new vessels off of the blueprints for the Asgard Bilskirnir-class Battlecruiser, adding my own artistic talent to give the vessel a sleek, sword-like form rather than the hammer-like form that the Asgard prefer.

My new Battlecruiser is a large vessel, larger than even the Asgard vessel it's based on, yet despite its large size, it can easily be crewed by three people using the neural-interface computer consoles, although the average crew is made up of twelve soldiers using the regular consoles. The incredible size of the vessel is due to its design, which was drawn to include a cargo bay capable of carrying up to five hundred thousand tons worth of smaller vessels, a bomb bay with a payload of three hundred Naquadah bombs, and living quarters for the crew as well as around twenty-five hundred passengers.

In addition to all that, it also contains a massive medical bay, transport and receival chamber, and a stasis bay for close to three thousand individuals. All of this is powered by five large Neutrino-Ion generators, two smaller generators of the same make and a single large generator as backup, the backup generator only activating to power the engines and life support in an emergency.

Transport wise, the battlecruiser comes complete with an interstellar hyperdrive and sublight engines like all other motherships, in addition to that however, I've installed a series of thrusters all over the vessel, allowing it to turn much faster than both Goa'uld and Asgard motherships. While the two engines will place this vessel on par with the Ha'tak, it's the intergalactic hyperdrive engines that make this vessel truly great, with these I'll be able to travel to a whole other galaxy should I ever wish to.

That will come in very handy if the Goa'uld somehow manage to push my empire all the way back that fleeing is the only option, I don't expect that to happen but it pays to be prepared.

When it comes to it's offensive capabilities, my battlecrusier is designed to completely outclass the Ha'tak. This is achieved with it's eight galaxy-class lasers, ten plasma cannons and five missile pods containing the most destructive weapon in my arsenal, a small-yield Neutronium-Antimatter Torpedo. While the Asgard database was edited so that this information was removed, I'm smart enough to postulate what happens when a couple grams of antimatter meet an object composed entirely of neutrons, the result is a weapon capable of destroying entire solar systems at full power.

Of course I'm not crazy enough to actually build a planet killer or anything stronger, the coming war has little need for weapons of that magnitude and I don't expect it to ever escalate to that level. Still, my antimatter torpedoes contain enough reactive material that a successful shot will create an explosion powerful enough to consume an entire Ha'tak, heck I could probably destroy a small moon with one of these.

As well as being outclassed offensively, my battlecruisers are also designed to outclass the Goa'uld defensively. The entire vessel is plated in several layers of the NTC composite metal but a majority of its defenses come from the shields, which are a mix of both Goa'uld and Asgard shielding systems. The Asgard shield encompasses the the first layer of protection, a form fitting shield that is able to absorb and diffuse the energy from weapons fire, these shields are so powerful that they can handle the full might of a single Ha'tak without failing.

As the Goa'uld aren't kind enough to just line their vessel up and attack me one at a time, I've designed these shields so that once the first layer is degraded to the point that energy begins bleeding through, the second layer will quickly activate. From my calculations, by the time my opponents manage to destroy the weaker Goa'uld dome shields, my Asgard shields will have recharged to full power, allowing me to drop the second layer and preset a fully powered shield to any opponents that are still alive at this point.

It is my hope that by the time an opposing vessel has defeated the two shields, assuming I come across any enemies powerful enough to do so, they will either be in critical condition and easy picking or my personnel will have already escaped the vessel in the escape pods and transport vessels. It's as close to a perfect defense as I can get, so long as the enemy I face is weaker than the Asgard, the Asgards Ion Guns can easily deal enough damage to drop the second layer in one shot, allowing them to assault the first layer before the shields are full recharged.

I've designed the Battlecruiser to serve a multifunctional vessel, capable of serving as a battleship, transport vessel and bomber at any time, I just hope it lives up to my expectations when the time comes.

* * *

In addition to the battlecruisers, I've also designed another vessel that will serve as a true mothership, my own personal flag ship. The Sword of Heka, the only vessel in my empire with a true name, is built in the same fashion as the battlecruiser except it is several hundred meters larger and is equipped with close to a dozen more weapons and bombs. Once completed, it will be the most powerful vessel in my armada and will be capable of striking down any opposition in its path, the Goa'uld will never see it coming.

However, the Sword won't be the most powerful for long. Where the Asgard lack imagination, my mind is filled with all sorts of weapons and starships designed by some of the best fictional writers that the earth has to offer. It's two of those special vessels that I'm secretly recreating far from any claimed territories, both can be considered superstructures in their own right, and I place both vessels on par with the planet killers that I don't see much use in.

I don't expect the coming war to ever escalate to the point that I'll even need one of these vessels but like I keep saying, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

* * *

A/N: That's that for the chapter, hope you all liked it.

All new pics are on my Deviant Art page, I've gone with the best pics I could find but if any of you can find/draw better pics that match the provided description, feel free to let me know and I'll post them.


	11. Expansion

**Harry Potter: Rise of an Empire**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize anything in this story, I don't own it.

"Text." - Speech.

_'Text.'_ - Thoughts.

**'Text.'** - Salem.

**"Text."** - Goa'uld voice.

**_"Text."_** - God voice.

A/N: To the two or so reviewers that mentioned my breaking the rules on the Evil Overlord list, Harry isn't an evil overlord so bleh :P.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Expansion.**

With my new equipment, vehicles, and armada under construction, I turn my attention to the inhabitants of my empire. Surei and the rest of the Guard have been doing a good job in their duties but it just isn't enough, the people have started to lose faith in me.

With Surei running the day to day operations of the empire, the people have started to lose belief in my authority, regardless of whether I'm advising him or not. It is to be expected however, many of these people have only seen me once and that was through a broadcast, with their growing intelligence and industrialization, the people are starting to pull away from religion and turning to science.

I can't have that.

Regardless of the power provided by their worship, I require their belief in our goals to fuel my war effort and if the people stop believing in me, they'll want more power for themselves, peace for their worlds and generally all the things that will lead to their prompt annihilation by the Goa'uld.

Which, of course, would be very bad.

* * *

Despite the amount of non-believers on some worlds though, there are still many that believe enough to set up an actual organized religion, religion worshiping the might of the great Lord Heka.

This, unfortunately, led to a break in the leadership and populace.

On one side of the break is the Priesthood, a group of human and Jaffa elders that run the various temples and propagate the new religion, encouraging all others to worship the mighty Heka. The Priesthood and their followers believe that they should have more power in how things are run, that as the true followers of Heka, they are the only ones worthy enough to shape the empire.

On the other side is the High Council, a large body of smaller councils made up of specifically selected officials, each tasked to oversee their separate worlds and report directly to Surei and I. Members of the High Council believe that being chosen by their god grants them the right to rule, they are afforded a great deal of power and authority in their positions and they refuse to part with even a scrap of their power, it doesn't help that a majority of their supporters are those that doubt my divinity.

This has all the beginnings of a great and bloody civil war written all over it, the Priesthood has quite a lot of fanatics and worshipers willing to fight should it come to it, they are widespread on all my worlds and are prepared to take up arms at anytime. On the other hand, not only does the High Council have supporters of its own but as the rightful authority, they have the backing of the Peacekeepers; a police force that I created to enforce the law and keep the peace on all my worlds.

Unless something is done, my territories will descend into infighting and war, which is why I decide to personally step in and deal with the situation before it worsens.

* * *

"My lord, this is highly unnecessary." Spoke one of the many councilors in the room. "Our petty situation is not enough to require one such as yourself to inter..."

"Do not dictate what is necessary to our god!" a priest shouts in reply, leaping to his feet. "Only he decides what is and is not necessary."

This, of course, leads a degradation of the situation as everyone else in the room leaps to their feet in anger, each shouting their opinion at the top of their voice, how annoying.

I sigh and glance around the room, taking in the various priests and council members arguing with each other, I'd called this meeting in the hopes of resolving the issues between the Priesthood and the High Council but we haven't even begun yet and things have already degraded to this point.

I sigh again, louder this time, and my eyes sweep around the large room we're gathered in.

We're currently seated within a large meeting room within the city hall on Taiyu, it's a pleasing room colored in soft tones, my mark decorating many areas in the room. On one end of the room is a raised platform with several seats arranged behind an ornate wooden table, these seats are normally used by the various council members during meetings but right now they're filled by myself and my honor guard. The rest of the room contains several rows of chairs, this is where members of the community usually sit but they're currently filled by the several councilors and priests.

This planet has really come far over the past few months, the people bettering themselves under their new level of freedom and education. The entire city, which was once nothing more than a grouping of decrepit huts and tents, is slowly becoming more and more urbanized. Granted access to all the materials they need and provided with various blueprints, the Council commissioned the construction of many new buildings, a task that was made far simpler with the upgrade to all of my factories.

Now, several months later, the old and decrepit village has been replaced with an urban cityscape. There are hundreds of different buildings making up the city, from apartments and houses to storefronts and restaurants, I've left creation of the cities to the various councils but all of them contain the same core buildings around their center, namely various schools, the Main Temple, the City Hall and the Peacekeeper Headquarters.

This is happening all over my empire, the villages becoming more urbanized as the people learn and grow, the quality of life has improved and there's a higher level of education. While I've made education mandatory for all my subjects, many of the older generation have chosen to only receive a minimal education on the truths of the galaxy, the general things that people need to know about the Goa'uld and how to survive in this turbulent galaxy.

It's the children, the future inhabitants of my empire, that are receiving the full education I provide, all of them learning the intricacies of living in an advanced civilization. It's also these children that are loosing faith, their increased knowledge disproving the theory of gods as science is brought into play, it almost makes me reconsider my decision to not indoctrinate them in school.

At first, I'd been stumped on how to solve this problem, there was little I could do other than running all over the place and throwing magic around all willy-nilly, I'd even delved back into my fantasy and mythology books for ideas. It was in one such book that I found the perfect solution to both issues, a solution I could enact if these men and women would just stop arguing.

I sigh for a third time, eyes narrowing to slits as they continue shouting and making fools of themselves.

**_"Silence."_** I whisper in a frigid tone, my magic sweeping through the room and silencing all sound, this leads to the regular fear and awe of my subjects as a further application of my power forces them into their seats, backs straight and bodies rigid as a board. _**"I did not come here to listen to you all bicker like insolent children."**_

A second passes in silence before I release the effect, watching them relax as movement and sound returns to the room.

_**"Now then, it is to my understanding that you of the priesthood believe it is your **_**right**_** to rule simply because you are **_**worthy**_**."**_ My voice is low and even but the pure malice projected in those words has them shivering in fear. **_"Tell me, what makes you worthy? What sets you apart from the others within my empire?"_**

"G-great one, we are the true believers." A young looking priest begins in a shaky tone. "T-the others, they lose faith in your grand majesty, we only seek to set them on the correct path and guide them to your golden light."

That earns him a raised brow, how flattering and completely cheesy, I'm surprised he could say that with a straight face and actually mean it.

**_"Indeed? And what gives you that right?"_** I ask in reply, suppressing my amusement at his reply. **_"What gives any of you the right to act as my voice among the people? Is it because you believe, because you are _worthy_?"_**

That shuts him up as he looks to the others for help, help that he doesn't receive.

_**"I find myself sorely disappointed."** _I continue with a sigh, twisting my face in an approximation of Dumbledores disappointed face, it seems to work and it takes all of my willpower to not laugh as my comments turn these adult men and women into apologetic children.

"A-apologies Great God, we meant no disrespect." Another priest speaks up, looking quite fearful.

**_"I know."_** I sigh, giving them a small smile, which causes them to turn even paler.

Despite the time that has passed and the progress made, they're still used to Fujin's rule, they expect punishment for their perceived insult, it's what the Goa'uld would have done.

_**"Do not worry yourselves, unlike the impostor, I am a merciful god."**_ I begin, earning small sighs of relief. _**"The Priesthood desires more power, the High Council wants to keep its current power, I have come to a compromise."**_

I can practically feel their anxiousness as they wait to hear my compromise.

**_"The High Council shall keep its full powers, you will continue as you have been, ruling in my name and enforcing my laws."_** I announce, my gaze focused on the lead councilman, an elder of Taiyu.

"Thank you my Lord, you honor us." He replies, bowing low in his seat, I reward him with a gracious smile before my face goes blank and I turn to the priests.

**_"It truly pleases me to see such believers, I feel your worship at every waking moment."_** I announce, watching as their faces light up in joy. **_"But."_** That sends them crashing down in disappointment. **_"There are many that do not believe, many that have lost their faith. Despite your best efforts, many have begun to pull away, disbelieving in the power of their god."_**

"We have tried divine one but they do not understand their folly." a priestess shouts out fearfully. "Please majesty, please forgive us."

I continue to smile graciously, maybe I should have tried setting myself up as something simpler, like a king or emperor. Nah, there may be less headaches that way but I would have to constantly keep an eye out for traitors after my throne, I think I can put up with some grovelling and cheesy lines for the peace of mind.

**_"There is nothing to forgive, it is no fault of yours."_** I reply, sighing yet again. **_"The fault is mine alone, many of the people pray to me, yet I do not answer."_**

Silence meets my comment, they know it's true.

**_"I have heard their prayers but they have yet to prove themselves, miracles do not come to those that simply wish for them."_** I lie, playing the role of a displeased god, things would be much easier if I could actually read minds with my wide range Legilimency and grant what prayers I'm able. **_"Which is why I have a new task for the Priesthood."_**

"What will you have us do my lord?" an elder priestess asks, the leader of the main temple on Taiyu.

**_"It is the duty of a god to watch over his people but I refuse to baby them, only those that prove themselves may receive the miracles they request."_** I explain, musing over my idea. **_"It shall be the duty of the Priesthood to select those that are worthy."_**

Their shocked expressions cause me to smirk in amusement, it's a very powerful role they're receiving, choosing those worthy to receive a miracle from their god.

Which is why I need to limit their power now before it spirals out of control.

**_"You shall erect a shrine in my name, one created from the technology I will provide, those who wish for a miracle shall come to this shrine to pray and should I find them worthy, I shall assign a task to be completed."_** I continue, my eyes turning hard. **_"It shall be the duty of the Priesthood to oversee these tasks and ensure they are completed, only then will I bestow a miracle upon the worthy."_**

They're still shocked but there's some awe there now.

**_"However, I shall grant only one miracle a day per world, even I have business to attend to."_** I continue, this will likely take up the entirety of my time with one body but as I've completed many of my time consuming projects, I have the time to spare. **_"Those who request a miracle may not pray for harm to befall another of my followers, they may not trifle in the realms of love and they can not pray for the dead to walk once more, so long as these rules are obeyed and their tasks completed, I shall bestow a miracle."_**

With my speech finished, I recline back in my seat and wait.

My plan is quite simple, I'll be using the quest-reward method of mythological Olympus, it worked pretty well for them and it's probably better than the pray-receive method of most other religions. Simply put, my followers will pray for a miracle and I'll assign them a quest, completion of that quest will earn them a reward.

It's a simple plan, although it will require some effort on my part.

The shrines that I plan on having them build will be a mix of a holographic communications device, a modified neural interface and a subspace transmitter. Whenever someone prays before the shrine, vocally or mentally, it will send a transmission to the main computer in my lab, which will log it based on the location. At the end of the day, the computer will run through the various requests and select those that sound the most deserving, a programmed copy of my thought process ensuring it will select the same option I would.

Once selected, the computer will then send me the information through my neural interface, alerting me of the selected _'miracles'_ and asking my permission to proceed. Once permission is given, a standard message would be sent through the holographic communicator with a suitable task for the priests to assign. After that, I simply have to wait and receive confirmation of the completed task and then one of my bodies can head out and provide the miracle.

It's all quite simple, yet complex at the same time. It will mean more work for me but I need to keep up appearances, a true god has many duties and I can't renege on those or my people will continue to lose faith.

"Technology my lord?" a priest asks, latching onto that one part of my entire speech. "Is such a thing required?"

**_"It is a simple communication device, one that will allow me to contact you when I am occupied elsewhere, nothing more."_** I reply, waving the question off.**_ "Do any of you have problems with the duties I have assigned you?"_**

They all share a look, glancing around at each other before looking to the lead elder.

"None my lord, we are honored by your trust." she replies, bowing low.

I allow my eyes to glow, a full and radiant glow rather that the temporary flash of the Goa'uld.

**_"As you should be but I warn you, even my mercy has its limits."_** I ground out, my tone cold and dangerous. _**"This is a great deal of power and authority that I am entrusting you with, with that power comes great responsibility, do not disappoint me."**_

That's right, I went there. Some of the good god, bad god routine, followed by a Spiderman quote. From the shivers going up their spines, it works and that's enough for me.

I stand from my raised seat, my guards standing with me as all others double over in a respectful bow.

**_"I hope that we do not have to meet again under these circumstances."_** I finish, my magic flaring around me in a golden aura.

My guards look on nervously as the aura envelopes them as well, that nervousness turning to shock as we're suddenly standing before the Chappa'ai, the on duty Peacekeepers shouting out in surprise at our sudden appearance. I like to add a little shock and awe when I can, it helps with the ruling process and their first magical transportation seems to leave my guards in an awed state, perfect.

* * *

**-Three Months Later-**

Exiting the Chappa'ai onto the planet of Hanaka, I nod at the supplicating soldiers and proceed through the small village, my honor guard following close behind me.

Looking around, I'm quite glad to see many of my men scurrying about, offering their aid to the villagers in any way they can. When we first came to Hanaka, these villagers had been quite fearful of our intentions, Nirrti's rule had not been very kind to them. Despite the fact they were all farmers and hunters, they had all been very malnourished and weak, Nirrti claiming close to ninety percent of their supplies.

This is one of the main reasons I've relegated control of her territories to Tej'oc, keeping the Goa'uld prisoner on Taiyu unless she has System Lord duties, it's hard to win over the people if you keep their oppressor in power. This seemed to work and they eventually warmed up to our presence, our kind actions and helpful aid winning them over in the end, they're quite thankful for the aid and willing to accept the rule of my empire.

I hold my head high and my back straight as everyone I pass bows to me, soldiers and villagers both bending at the waist in respect. Walking through the streets, I can still see the lingering fear on the faces of those that gaze at me, fearful of yet another 'god'. Still, I try to offer calming smiles where I can, hoping they'll be more trusting of a young, kind child.

It doesn't seem to work.

Which is why it comes as quite a surprise when a child, a girl roughly 4 or 5 years old, runs up to me, giggling as she grabs my hand. There are a few gasps from the villagers and one of the women shouts out, most likely the girls mother. I'm caught off guard by this, surprised at her actions and confused about what to do, so I go with my instincts, play nice.

It works for politicians back home, it should work here right?

"Hello little one, what's your name?" I ask, crouching low and smiling kindly.

She returns my smile with a bright one of her own.

"C-casanda." she stutters out, she's not fearful but I get the feeling that she doesn't speak much.

"Cassandra?" I ask, receiving a nod in reply. "I'm Heka, how old are you Cassandra?"

She stews over it before grinning and holding up seven fingers, that makes here six years younger than me.

"This many."

She looks much younger than that but that may just be from the malnutrition, considering the way Nirrti treated her subjects, it's a surprise the girl can even count. I assume a small community like this has very few that can teach the children basic things like that, that should all change once I've urbanized the planet.

"That's very old, you're a big girl." I reply, receiving a wider grin from her.

"Do you want to play?" she asks, pulling on my hand.

I'm caught off guard, wondering what sorts of games Hanakan children play but I nod nonetheless. At this point an older looking woman, similar in appearance to Cassandra, rushes forward and grabs her.

"I am sorry great lord, she is young, she does not know better." the woman pleads, looking fearful despite the kind smile on my face.

I sigh as I stand, glancing around at the other villagers, a few remain fearful but those closer to me seem more calm, having overheard my conversation with Cassandra.

"What is your name?" I ask the woman, making sure to keep my smile soft and charming.

"Katherine my lord." she replies, fearful yet defiant. "I beg forgiveness."

"There is nothing to forgive." I reply immediately, helping her to her feet. "You have nothing to fear Katherine, not from my soldiers and certainly not from me."

"Thank you my lord, you are merciful." she says, bowing low and slowly backing up towards the crowd.

I sigh again but I'm glad to see Cassandra fighting back, trying to leave her mothers tight grip.

"Mama, I want to stay with Heka, we're going to play." Cassandra whines, pouting at her mother.

Katherine hushes her, continuing to back away but it takes some effort as her daughter fights every step of the way, whining about how she wants to stay and play.

After a few seconds, I decide to step in.

"Katherine." I speak up, smiling at her daughter, causing her to giggle. "Leave her."

"My lord?" she asks, her eyes wide and fearful.

"Do not worry, she will be returned to you unharmed, I simply seek her company." I reply, giving another disarming smile, this one seems to work as she nods and let's go. "Please, let her stay?"

I don't really feel like dragging some kid around for the entire day but I'm hoping it'll help with the '_kind and benevolent god_' image I'm going for.

"As you command my lord." Katherine replies, looking anything but pleased.

"I am not commanding Katherine, I am asking."

"As you wish Lord Heka." she says in reply, finally smiling and looking less fearful, about damn time too, I didn't think she would ever calm down.

Pushing my annoyance aside, I smile and allow my magic to flare, golden light flowing off my form and wrapping around Cassandras small frame. There are quite a few gasps from the surrounding villagers but the girl simply laughs as I levitate her, easily holding her aloft with my power despite being at half-strength, I could have done this without the flashy glow but sometimes it's all about the showmanship.

"Would you like to play Cassandra?" I ask the girl, my eyes glowing as golden power billows around me.

She grins and nods, looking fascinated at the golden light surrounding her as I send her flying around me, doing slow loops and twirls. It seems to entertain her as she laughs and claps, her mother watching in amazement, amusement and slight nervousness.

"She shall be returned to you Katherine, unharmed and safe." I say to her mother, who nods nervously, at least the fear is fully gone now.

With that, I stalk off towards my original destination, Cassandra floating around me gleefully. My idea seems to be a success as the villagers look less fearful now, some watching in great amusement and awe.

My soldiers barely look twice, most of them already used to more impressive displays of power.

* * *

It takes a few minutes for us to reach the our destination, an outpost built a couple kilometers outside the village. The outpost is a large complex capable of holding over six thousand soldiers at this point, I expect it to house over ten times that number once its been upgraded to a full military base.

"My lord, welcome." Surei greets, bowing in respect.

I have to give him credit, he doesn't even blink twice at the young child floating around us.

"Greetings Surei." I reply, smiling to my second in command.

My aura fades as I gently set Cassandra down, ignoring her pouting and whining. I turn to Mina, who is holding a distressed looking Salem, the only one of my original guard to follow me on this mission.

"Mina, why don't you take Cassandra here and clean her up." I suggest, pointing out the girl who happens to be covered in layers of dirt and grime. "We will take lunch in one hour, have her prepared to join us."

Normally my soldiers would never see me eat or sleep, I always have one of my bodies around to propagate the image of a god while the other one eats and meditates in private. However, I do join my guard from time to time, usually when I'm inspecting a planet or aboard a vessel. I do make sure to completely avoid food when I do though, and even then I only drink a glowing, golden liquid that I've personally conjured, its just water but the glow adds some mysticism.

It's the little things like this that further the belief of divinity, something the Goa'uld fail to understand, if you're going to play a god, then you should commit to the role.

"It shall be done Lord Heka." Mina replies bowing.

**'Ha! Now someone else can suffer under the demon woman!' **Salem crows, smugly peering down at Cassandra. **'Enjoy it you little brat!'**

"Oh and Mina," I interrupt, grinning darkly. "Take Salem as well, he's starting to look a little messy."

She nods and tightens her grip on the furious animal as my familiar attempt a leap for my throat.

**'Curse you, you damned bastard, curse you!'**

I send my amusement through the link, closing it after a few seconds to drown out his expletives, damn that cat hates his baths. Mina stalks off, leading a cheerful and giggling Cassandra away. I sigh in relief to see them go, I've never gotten along with other kids, not the ones my age or younger and definitely not the ones older than me. It was a bit weird with Cassandra, I don't really know what it is kids do for fun, at least I was able to distract her with that levitating trick.

"You have done well with your task Surei, the empire flourishes under your command." I comment, turning back to my high commander. "Ask anything of me and I shall grant it."

His eyes widen slightly, his mind spinning at my offer, a true gift from a god.

"My lord, it is my duty to serve, I do not require any reward." Surei replies, bowing once more.

I offer him a smile, showing that I'm pleased with his reply.

"Be that as it may, you have earned it." I counter, my voice and face resolute. "Ask Surei, and you shall receive."

He stands in thought for a few moments, his eyes sweeping my form and those of my Guard. Finally he sighs, deciding to just get on with it and make a request.

"My family, Lord Heka." Surei says after a moment's silence. "It has been some time since I have seen them, I request leave to visit them, my son comes of age in three months time and I would like to be there for the event."

I muse over the request, my head tilted to the side in thought. It's not much of a request, one that I can grant easily but Surei has done very well, he deserves more.

"Your son, he turns ten in three months?" I ask, struck by a sudden idea. The coming of age of a Jaffa is ten years old, the age where they would usually receive their symbiote, my Jaffa receive the cure potion instead.

"Yes my lord, he is my firstborn, such an event is one that I do not wish to miss." Surei replies, his face blank of emotion despite the anxiousness in his tone.

I smile at that.

"Very well Surei, your request has been granted." I announce, much to his joy. "Also, you shall bring your son before me soon after his ceremony."

"My lord?" he asks, looking calm but sounding uncertain.

"You have served me loyally and faithfully Surei, yet you ask for so little, you and your line shall be greatly rewarded." I reply, smirking smugly. "Should he be willing, your son shall receive the proper training and once complete, he shall be granted a position of honor within my guard, an elite among elites."

His eyes widen at the honor I've bestowed upon his son, a gasp from behind me shows that the rest of the guard are surprised as well. My personal honor guard is composed of exactly twenty soldiers, the best of the best of all my soldiers. The original forty-six members of my guard are all commanders now, they lead my armies while the new guard serves as my protection and personal force. Only the very best soldiers are allowed into my guard, all of them leagues above their fellow soldiers in terms of strength and ability, to be promised such a position at a young age is an honor any Jaffa would kill for.

Of course, the kid would have to pass the training first, which is why I'll have him start at a young age. With several extra years to work with, he could take the training slower than any other and achieve a level of skill higher than that of my current guard.

"My lord!" Surei gasps, looking flustered for once, point in my favor. "Such an honor is..."

"Less than you deserve." I cut in, still smirking. "You deserve more Surei, continue with your excellent service and I shall grant you more of such rewards."

I tend to offer these rewards in order to reinforce my soldiers loyalty and raise morale, they receive rewards for excellent work and punishment for great failures. So far there haven't been any failures great enough to require punishment, that's good at least.

"Thank you my lord, I am truly honored." Surei replies, bowing lower than I've ever seen.

"It is no less than you deserve." I comment, waving off his reply and gazing around the base. Outside of our little bubble of peace, everyone else is rushing about, busily at work. "Come, show me the base. The sooner we finish the inspection, the sooner you can all eat."

He nods and takes a step back, his stoic composure back in place as he turns to walk away.

I shake my head in amusement and follow behind, Salem's shouts pounding on my barriers as I go.

* * *

"Do you want one Heka?" Cassandra asks, holding out a small fruit.

She looks completely different now that she's been cleaned up, her brown and unruly hair is now a lighter shade and falling down in neat curls, Mina has done a great job.

We're currently within the dinning hall, my guards, Cassandra and I seated at a high table while the rest of the men sit at their own tables below us.

I look at the small fruit in Cassandra's hand, it looks like a strawberry but its purple in color, it does look delicious but I have an appearance to maintain.

"Thank you Cassandra but I don't eat." I reply, swirling the golden liquid in my glass, I've transfigured the water into simple apple juice with my magic adding a golden glow for appearance. "A simple drink is enough for me."

"But you have to." she insists, pouting once more and staring at me with wide eyes. "It's delicious."

I sigh and glance around the room, noticing how many of the soldiers are pointedly looking in the other direction, as if I didn't see them turn away just as I looked over. My guards have no issue with staring however, some are even smiling in amusement as they eat their meal, so much for Jaffa stoicism.

"Please?" Cassandra pleads, holding the fruit out once more, her eyes looking watery as her lip begins to quiver.

"Fine." I reply hastily, snatching the fruit from her hand.

It's one that I haven't tried before, seeing as it's grown locally on this world. I pop the fruit into my mouth, noticing Cassandras beaming face as her mood does a massive one-eighty, what a manipulative little girl.

"Yay, want another?" She asks, going for another fruit, a black apple this time.

As the fruit is shoved into my hands, I narrow my eyes at my chuckling guard, the amusement clear on all their faces.

"Not one word." I mutter, taking a bite out of the delicious fruit. Weird, it looks like an apple but it tastes like an orange.

"Of course not my lord." a few mutter back, turning back to their food.

* * *

"Another, another." Cassandra begs, clapping her hands excitedly.

I sigh and draw on my power, the magic striking out at a nearby rock and transforming it into an adorable little duck. Cassandra breaks out in laughter as the duck waddles away, joining a score of other creatures congregated in the courtyard. My guards and a few other soldiers are nearby, watching in shocked amazement as I create strange creature after strange creature, all at the insistence of a little civilian girl.

"Again, again." Cassandra squeals, eyes wide in joy.

I sigh and draw on my magic once more, focusing on the image of a new creature, this had better do wonders for my PR.

* * *

"Higher Heka, higher."

Frowning in focused concentration, I will my magic to lift the girl higher in the air, my magic complies and the girl is lifted another ten feet in the air.

"Higher, higher." Cassandra shouts from above, her head swiveling in every direction as she tries to take in the view.

I sigh once more and focus, this is getting really annoying.

* * *

"Here you go Katherine, safe and sound." I begin, giving the woman a calm smile as she fussed over her daughter.

"Thank you my lord." Katherine replies, tilting her head in respect.

"Are you leaving Heka?" Cassandra asks, her eyes wide and watery again. "We're not done playing."

I give her a wide smile, two parts calming and one part charming, this has been a very strange and bothersome day.

I'm not used to dealing with children around my age and Susanoo's memories are definitely no help here. Still, she was somewhat well behaved, unlike Dudley and the other kids I can remember. She's also been quite nice and somewhat entertaining, again, unlike Dudley and the other kids I remember.

All in all, she's been a good companion, only slightly annoying but not as troublesome as I'd expected.

"Don't worry Cassandra, I promise to come back and visit." I reply, fully intending to keep that promise. Despite the few annoyances, it's been quite relaxing hanging around with her, no responsibilities or planning. Well, not for one body and half my mind at least.

"But I don't want you to go." Cassandra whines, ignoring her mothers efforts to shush her. "Please don't go Heka."

With a sigh, I crouch down and pick up a nearby rock, my magic flashing as golden power flows into the small item in my hand. Katherine and some nearby villagers take a step back nervously but my guards remain in place, their eyes on the rock in my hand as they wait to witness another act of divinity.

Before their very eyes, the rock in my hand changes, shifting from a small worn stone into an intricate silver chain with threads of gold looping through it. It's a simple item with no jewels or anything overly gaudy attached but I've injected some of my blood into it, using it as a focus for the minor enchantments and protections on the necklace.

It will keep her somewhat safe and protected for however long the enchantments last, which should be roughly half a year or so, before it requires recharging.

"This is for you Cassandra." I whisper, slipping it around her neck. "As long as you wear it, I'll be able to find you wherever you are, then I can come back to play again. Okay?"

The enchantments will prevent it from being removed against her will and it should alert me if she's ever in danger, I don't expect her to ever need it but it never hurts to be safe. Somehow, she's managed to worm her way into my heart, my first... friend. Well, my first human friend at least.

Cassandra beams and plays with the necklace around her neck, admiring its beauty.

"Okay." she replies, grabbing me in a hug.

That catches me off guard and I stiffen for a moment before returning it, what a weird kid.

"Bye Cassandra." I say, standing and turning to my guard.

I'm pretty much out of power in this body, all of it poured into creating and enchanting an item that will last for so long a time in this realm, we'll have to walk to the Chappa'ai.

"Bye Heka!" she shouts at our retreating backs, causing a couple of my guards to chuckle. "See you next time."

It's times like these that I wish I was still Goa'uld, at least then I wouldn't have embarrassing situations like this, no one plays with or laughs at a murdering dictator.

Another sigh follows the first as I make my way to the Chappa'ai, I suppose I can deal with a little embarrassment from time to time, respect beats fear.

* * *

**-Two Months Later-**

"It truly is a magnificent sight Lord Heka." Asha'ka comments from behind me, her voice low in awe.

I smirk as I look behind me and take in the awed looks on my guards faces, their eyes are locked on the vessels flying above us, the first of my future armada.

Flying above us are close to five hundred Fighters, one hundred bombers and transport vessels, and eight battlecrusiers, five months worth of spacecraft production.

The Sword is close to completion but it wont be finished for some time, I've programmed my docks to spend more time producing the lesser vessels rather than working on the huge flagship, the Sword isn't required quite yet as Nirrti's former territory will be an easy conquest.

"Indeed and these are nothing more than the beginnings of a greater force." I reply, smirking as four Fighter Craft fly by, their pilots pushing the small vessels to their limits.

"Truly magnificent." Tej'oc murmurs, his voice low in wonder.

I turn my gaze back to the sky, my enhanced vision allowing me to pierce through the cloud cover and see one of the battlecruisers in the upper atmosphere, I'm pleased to see hundreds of orbital satellites being released from the vessel, all of them programmed to float uselessly around the planet until they're required.

"Asha'ka." I call, gaining my commanders attention. "Contact Surei, I want the fleet prepared to leave immediately, it is time we bring the rest of Nirrti's former territory into the empire."

"Yes, Lord Heka." She salutes, hastily turning to leave.

They all seem to be quite excited, about both the ships and my orders, the Jaffa are nothing if not warriors after all.

"Oh and Asha'ka." I continue.

"My Lord?" she asks, stopping in her tracks.

"There should be several crates by the Chappa'ai." I explain, my eyes locked on the sky. "They contain several new suits of armor, labeled by name for the Commanders and by unit for the army, see that they're properly divided."

The thought of new armor seems to excite them, a few of the Guard following Asha'ka to lend their assistance. Jaffa, stoic and emotionless until you offer them new weapons and armor, then they're reduced to children with new toys. Still, with all the work I've put into that armor, I'm glad to see them excited over it.

I cant wait to see their expressions at all the new features in the armor, it'll take two days to travel from Shakha to the closest world with the sublight engines, plenty of time for them to adjust to the new armor.

* * *

**-Three Days Later-**

Seated within the lead vessel of my fleet, I gaze through the force field windows at the first stop on our system wide expansion, a small world several light-years from Shakha.

My vessels have been orbiting this planet, named Veda by the inhabitants, for close to an hour. Five minutes have passed since I sent a holographic transmission to the planet, I'm still waiting for a confirmation from my soldiers.

The seconds slowly pass in silence, my various soldiers working diligently at their stations, before my neural interface beeps and I receive a direct confirmation of the established connection. Standing from my seat, my new robes billowing around me, I send the signal to the communications device and close my eyes.

When my eyes open, I'm standing within a village, one at the standard level of most Goa'uld controlled villages. The entire area is packed with curious villagers and warriors, an elder Jaffa standing at the forefront.

"You have come my Lord." The elder greets, falling to one knee in salute.

The others are quick to join him, ever single one of them bowing before me in supplication.

_**"Stand."**_ I command, my voice echoing throughout the silent courtyard. _**"I am Heka, God of Magic and Protector of Mortals, I have come to grant you aid and reveal a great many truths."**_

At the last word, bright flashes of light fill the village as my men are beamed down, each looking impressive in their new armor. They immediately move out, handing out supplies as the medics inquire about the injured and diseased, the priests will follow as soon as the situation is stabilized.

Classic missionary approach, provide them with supplies and aid, then preach until they're avid followers.

The looks of awe and hope on the villagers faces cause me to smirk in satisfaction, another world falling under my control before my very eyes.

* * *

**-One Month Later**-

With a total of nine planets falling to my machinations, I now control over half of the system.

Unfortunately, my expansion has just been cut short as I've run out of battlecrusiers and able soldiers, each planet requiring one full vessel and a contingent of soldiers to keep it under a full lock-down.

With seven new planets added to my growing empire, I've added another two hundred and sixty thousand people members to my empire, eighty thousand of which are Jaffa warriors.

Currently, these few worlds are being combed over for spies, any warriors that pass the tests are immediately shipped off to Hanaka, Jaipur or Taiyu to receive training at the military bases.

It will take some time to absorb the last six worlds in the system but the entirety of the territory will be within my control before the year is out, after that I can allow my forces to grow stronger before I continue expanding my empire.

**"My Lord."** a voice calls, drawing me from my thoughts.

My eyes snap open, each glowing with golden power within the darkness of my hood, I've taken to meditating in public as well as in private, Jaffa already practice Kel'no'reem so there's nothing wrong with me doing the same.

Surei is kneeling at my feet, a modest marble throne within my manors study, I've finally managed to tie the inside of my wizard tent to a doorway in Taiyu's city hall. It's an ornate doorway attached to an outside wall within the hall, it continually fills all with awe as the doorway should lead outside of the building but instead leads to a massive manor, this allows me to have an impressive palace without seeming as ostentatious as the Goa'uld.

More importantly than that, there is a child kneeling next to Surei, a young boy that is quite similar in appearance to my High Commander.

**_"Surei."_** I greet, my eyes flickering to the boy and back. **_"Your son I presume?"_**

His helmet splits apart and collapses into the neck of his armor, the impressive mask folding away to reveal his true face.

"Indeed my lord, this is Tiri'el, my firstborn son." Surei replies, standing from his supplicant position.

He looks quite impressive in his new armor, the entire suit allowing him to stand at over seven feet tall, its dark colors and mask adding to the intimidation factor.

**_"Tiri'el."_** I repeat, turning my attention to the boy.

The boy in question is of Asian descent like his father, with short black hair and brown eyes that glow with intelligence. Being a child, he's received some level of education, more so than the adults within my empire.

"Lord Heka." Tiri'el replies, respectfully bowing at the waist. "I am honored to stand before you."

That causes me to smirk, though it's completely hidden within the darkness of my hood, only my eyes can be seen, the rest is obscured by an enchantment that prevents the glow of my eyes from illuminating the rest of my face. The boy is speaking with the monotone voice of a Jaffa, his face a stoic mask, like father, like son.

"I bet you are." I murmur under my breath, my eyes flickering to Surei in amusement. **_"Do you know why you are here today Tiri'el?"_**

"Yes my lord, my father has told me of your command." he replies, his gaze cautiously inquisitive as he tries to peer into my hood.

**_"It is not a command, you are free to choose Tiri'el."_** I comment, it would be bad if he has no wish of being a soldier. **_"There is no disrespect if you refuse."_**

His eyes widen slightly and he looks to his father, who nods in return.

"Thank you Lord Heka." Tiri'el says after a moment, bowing to me once more. "I would like to accept my lord, I am overjoyed to receive such a great honor."

I smile and nod, my eyes glinting in amusement at the wide grin on his face, perhaps he's not completely like his father, not yet at least.

**_"That is good, your father shall ensure that you are trained."_** I reply, standing from the throne. **_"I look forward to having you at my side Tiri'el, it is my hope you become a great soldier, greater than any before you, the potential is there."_**

"Thank you my lord, you honor me." he replies, grinning once more.

"Thank you my lord." Surei adds, squeezing his sons shoulder in pride.

I nod and flicker away, appearing on the surface of a planet half a system away. This world, Rigeda, is the most recent to fall under my command and with a population of five hundred, it's also the smallest.

The planet is a jungle world, full of large predators and poisonous plants, it also happens to be where Nirrti sent all those that have ever displeased her. With such a dangerous environment, it's no surprise that most inhabitants of this world live such short lives, very short lives.

Luckily for them, my forces are here and we'll either clear the area of dangerous beasts or move the villagers to another world depending on the level of danger.

* * *

Stalking through the jungle, I chuckle as a ferocious beast crosses my path, a wild cat over twenty feet high and capable of knocking trees over as it passes.

_'Having fun?'_ I ask, running my hand over Salem's muddy pelt.

**'Oh yes, this place is wonderful, did you see the size of those lizard things?'** Salem asks, his voice cheerful and giddy.

_'It's called a Tyrannosaurus Rex.'_ I reply, remembering the large blue creatures he's speaking of. They're similar to the T-Rex's of earth, except smaller and blue.

**'Yeah those, this place is great for hunting, we have to come back.'** he adds, batting aside a small tree.

I chuckle and wipe my hand on a clean patch of fur.

_'You do know you're going to need a bath after this right?'_

**'Meh, it's worth it this time.'**

_'Well in that case, I suppose we can come back again, this world has a Chappa'ai so it wont be too difficult.'_ I answer, headed for said Chappa'ai.

**'Sweet.'**

* * *

**-Five Months Later-**

I giggle to myself in glee, a momentary loss of composure but it doesn't matter, I'm clustered away in my lab where no one else can hear me.

The reason for my giddiness?

I've made a major first step in my quest for immortality.

With the power granted to me by the Resequencer, I've managed to splice my DNA with that of another, a difficult technique even with the powerful machine of the Ancients. The Resequencer was built to alter DNA, not splice it, while DNA splicing is within its capabilities, it's difficult nonetheless.

Despite the difficulty, I've managed to use the Resequencer to splice my DNA with a modified strand of Srotpar DNA, the self-replicating raptors from the nameless planet with the Furling outpost.

The DNA of the Srotpar, when added to mine, will grant me one of the abilities that I previously crossed off my list, instant regeneration. The Srotpar's DNA, with some selective modification, will allow my own cells to self multiply, easily cloning themselves whenever it's required.

Basically, it will give me a healing factor so powerful that I'll be able to fully regenerate as long as one single cell survives.

Normally, this would be a useless form of immortality, as proven by the vampires of my home reality. With those creatures, destruction of the brain would usually lead to death or brain death regardless of all regenerative capabilities but with my mind tied to my magic as it is, I can anchor my mind and magic to a single living cell of my body even if it's not a brain cell.

A single cell wouldn't last too long though, that much magical power concentrated in one spot would burn through it given time but the cell would last just long enough for more of my body to regenerate, hence immortality.

However, there are a few drawbacks to this method, as is to be expected.

For one thing, I have no way of controlling the cloning process, nothing I can do will allow me to control the science oriented gene with magic. If left as is, my cells would keep cloning themselves and dying until eventually, there are more cells dying than there are being made, death by rapid aging.

Until I can fix this little issue, this method is incomplete, forcing me to consume deaging potions every few hours to counteract the effect. However, it is still a viable method, more so than any other method I've considered.

It will take some work but I'm slowly getting closer to my goal, this method may not give perfect immortality but it's a big step in the right direction, especially when coupled with my ability to inhabit two bodies at once. Still, I'll need a magical form of immortality as well, something to further protect my soul and magic.

A Horcrux would be a step in the right direction but even that would have flaws, such as splitting my total magical power in half permanently, besides, I still don't know how to make one and I don't plan on experimenting. Nothing good can come out of splitting my soul in half, even if it's between my two bodies, stretching it between both bodies is my limit at this time.

I need to find another method, some way to keep my soul tethered to the mortal realm without splitting my power. The regeneration method might last for some time, my living cells tying me to the mortal realm but another method will be needed in the case of full obliteration, something that could easily happen in this reality. With all of the powerful plasma weapons and bombs, the backlash from a Chappa'ai and exploding starships, there are just too many things that can fully disintegrate my body.

Hell, even a simple Zat'nik'tel could do it.

Regeneration is a big step but it's not perfect, not yet. There is a true method out there, I just need to find it but until I do, I'll keep studying and experimenting.

* * *

**-Two Months Later-**

With another force of starships completed, I set off to conquer the last five worlds of the system.

It fills me with great joy that my flagship is leading this invasion, the Sword is now fully operational and is performing to the best of its capabilities, easily outperforming the average battlecruiser with great ease.

The first three of the remaining worlds have already fallen under my control, their inhabitants surrendering with little to no resistance as my medics and missionaries set to work.

The main issue with these worlds is their population.

While Nirrti's inner worlds had low populations from her various experiments, these outer worlds are thriving with life, their inhabitants numbering in the millions rather than the thousands. These worlds were mostly left alone by Nirrti, as she needed the people to slave away in their abundant mines. So long as they kept providing resources, Nirrti would leave them alone.

Due to the massive populations, each world takes at least two battlecruisers to place it in a lock-down, not to mention the large contingent of soldiers to keep the order and the many medics to provide aid.

On the positive side, those very worlds are thriving with loyal subjects, all willing to swear allegiance to my cause and worship me as their god. Already the first three worlds have provided me with several thousand soldiers, so many in fact that I'm being forced to construct four more military bases just to contain and train them.

These worlds are gold mines for my empire, providing me with tremendous resources, new subjects and fearsome warriors, all with little to no resistance.

Of course, such good luck couldn't last for long so I wasn't all that surprised when I face some resistance on the fourth world, Goa'uld resistance.

* * *

"My lord, there are vessels in orbit around the planet." a technician comments, turning towards me.

I frown at that, my eyes closing as I link into the sensors observing the planet and receive the information directly. Many of the worlds we'd captured had come complete with their own vessels, Ha'tak and all the rest, however those vessels had all been on the planet's surface, awaiting my arrival.

This world on the other hand, has three Ha'tak in orbit, one of which is a Goa'uld flagship. All three vessels are fully loaded with soldiers, their weapons and shields at full power.

It's just my luck that the Sword is the only vessel here, the others headed for the fifth and final world with Surei as leader.

"Communications, contact the lead vessel." I command, turning to the communications console.

I could have done it myself, the Sword being designed to operate with just one pilot from the command chair, but it's better to let them assist, the practice and training could one day save their lives.

Receiving a confirmation from the communications expert, I link into the holographic communicator, projecting my image towards the flagship of the small force. With a blink, I appear in the Pel'tak of the lead Ha'tak, several staff weapons aimed in my direction.

**"What are you doing here Asgardian, this is Goa'uld territory?"** a voice asks, one that is decidedly Goa'uld in nature.

This, of course, causes me to frown. The Goa'uld leader of this planet should already be dead, executed with the rest of his ilk some months ago, that means this is a rival Goa'uld invading Nirrti's territory.

I'm dressed in my armored robes with the hood pulled up so he can't ascertain my identity, which is most likely why he assumes I'm an Asgardian, only they're known to use holographic communicators.

Without replying, I turn towards the voice and frown at the boy seated lazily on a throne, one leg thrown over an armrest. He's roughly two or three years older than me, of Asiatic descent with black eyes and crimson hair, a strange mix but I wouldn't put it past a Goa'uld to alter their host so it's more fitting.

_**"Who are you and why have you trespassed into my territory?"**_ I ask, slipping into my godly persona as my eyes begin glowing within my hood.

The Goa'uld frowns at that, leaning forward in his seat as he observes me.

**"You are not Nirrti, she prefers female hosts." **the Goa'uld sneers, staring me down.** "Neither are you Asgardian, you're far too human."**

_**"No, I am not Nirrti, nor am I of the Asgard."**_ I reply, narrowing my eyes. _**"I have claimed her territory as my own. Now, who are you and why are you in my territory."**_

His eyes widen slightly as he leans back.

**"So, someone has defeated Nirrti?"** the Goa'uld mutters to himself, practically ignoring my presence. ** "Interesting."**

My eyes close and I sigh in irritation.

_**"This is your last chance before my vessel opens fire, who are you Goa'uld and why do you trespass in my territory?"**_ I ask, annoyed at his avoidance.

I plan to open fire either way, I just want to know which Goa'uld I'll be killing today, that will make it easier to claim his territory afterwards.

The Goa'uld waves his hand negligently, looking almost bored of my presence., like I'm a mere annoyance rather than an actual threat.

Typical Goa'uld arrogance.

**"I am your god, Kagutsuchi." **The Goa'uld replies, signaling his men.** "I claim this world in my name, the first of many in my new territory."**

I frown at the name and begin sifting through my memories for any information on this particular Goa'uld, the name is familiar but it takes me some time to find it, this doesn't come from any memorized information but from my Goa'uld memories. The information is hidden at the very beginnings of Susanoo's memories, buried in the genetic memories from before his birth.

Kagutsuchi the exile, one of the few Goa'uld reviled even among his own kind, he also happens to be Susanoo's half-brother, an idiotic fool with a love for war and violence.

Over twenty-five thousand years ago, Kagutsuchi led an invasion into the territory of the System Lord Izanagi, his own father. The invasion had been completely foolish, Izanagi's forces outnumbering Kagutsuchi's three to one, the foregone conclusion was Kagutsuchi's defeat.

As his father however, Izanagi was willing to allow Kagutsuchi to live, to learn from his mistakes. Kagutsuchi however, was a coward and a fool, willing to attack his own father when the Goa'uld's back was turned, an attack that went awry and struck Izanagi's mate, Izanami.

Normally, this action would be ignored by the other Goa'uld, most of whom would only scoff before forgetting about it. However, Izanami was a Goa'uld Queen, one of the few able to produce Goa'uld larva.

The murder of a Queen is a grave crime among the Goa'uld, a crime punishable by death, resurrection and death, repeated over and over until the victim is driven insane. Rather than face his punishment, Kagutsuchi fled, narrowly escaping with his life and fleeing from Goa'uld controlled space, exiled to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.

Which is where he remained for several thousand years, only leaving to invade other Goa'uld territories, an action that usually ended with his defeat, the capture of his territory and unfortunately, his quick escape. Somehow, he always managed to escape, find a new world to claim in his name and repeat his foolish actions.

It would be admirable if he didn't insist on always attacking the most powerful System Lords, never a minor Goa'uld that he might have a chance of defeating. Kagutsuchi is an idiotic and overly arrogant fool, even for a Goa'uld, this won't be a challenge.

_**"You claim this world?"**_ I ask, chuckling condescendingly. _**"I have heard of you Kagutsuchi, a bloodthirsty fool who simply refuses to do as he should and die."**_

His eyes narrow as his nostrils flare, his warriors shifting uneasily around us.

**"Who are you?"** He snarls, standing from his throne.** "Tell me the name of the worthless fool that I will slay this day."**

I take a few steps forward, ignoring the staff weapons that pass through my holographic form, and stop before the throne.

_**"I am Heka, Lord of Life and God of Magic."**_ I reply, my eyes locked with his. **_"I am the god that will strike you down Goa'uld, I am the god that will lay waste to you and your pathetic ilk._"**

His eyes widen in anger but I'm gone before he can say anything else.

* * *

"My lord, they are preparing to fire."

_**"Target the secondary vessels, I want them destroyed."**_ I command, linking into the sensors and observing the battle from both the ships systems as well as the window.

There's a flash of light as hundreds of plasma bolts slam into the Sword's primary shields, close to two hundred staff cannons firing on our position.

"Shields at ninety-five percent my lord."

I almost whistle at that, only five percent damage from close to two hundred staff cannons, that's impressive to say the least. The Asgardian shields are proving to be a great investment.

"Weapons at one hundred percent my lord, vessels targeted, we're prepared to fire."

I shift my focus from the sensors to the weapons system, my mind running through the information provided, all weapon ports are prepared to fire and the bombs are armed and ready.

_**"Fire."**_ I command, reclining in my seat as I feel the weapons launch.

A veritable storm of energy blasts and lasers descend on the two Ha'tak, slamming into the Goa'uld shields with a flash of power, the shields buckle under the assault but they hold, drained but not completely depleted.

"Enemy shields at sixteen percent."

Hmm, eighty-four percent damage to each vessel from half of my weapons, not bad at all. Kagutsuchi is proving to be a good test subject at the least.

"Vessel launch detected my lord, they've released Gliders and Al'kesh."

I consider various methods to counter, should I use my weapons or launch my own vessels?

Neither option seems all that great, I already know how well my weapons are and I don't want to launch vessels, engaging in a firefight might give the coward a chance to escape.

Time to try something more... creative.

_**"Ignore them and focus fire on the Ha'tak, do not let them escape."**_ I reply, mentally activating the ship's beam transporters.

As the crew focuses their fire on the Ha'tak, I dive into the beaming system and focus on the nearest Al'kesh, using the missile pods would be a great idea but I want to test out the beam transporters in combat.

There's a series of white lights in the distance, five in total and distantly spread apart, my missiles and bombs appearing in the emptiness of space. A few seconds pass before they detonate, five bright suns flaring to life in an instant.

Just like that, three quarters of the enemy fleet is annihilated, hundreds of Death Gliders and Al'kesh erased from existence as my arsenal of anti-matter bombs detonate. A moment later, the two Ha'tak explode, my vessels weapons punching through the last of their shields and destroying the vessels.

"Targets destroyed, orders my lord?"

**_"Focus on the last of the smaller vessels, let none escape."_** I command, beaming the scrap metal into my cargo bay, it will prove useful as basic materials.

The Sword immediately opens fire, the lasers and plasma projectors wiping out the smaller vessels as their own return fire washes off our shields to little effect.

"Sir, we are receiving a communications request."

**_"Allow it."_** I reply, returning my attention to my body.

A screen lowers before me, Kagutsuchi lacking the proper technology to project himself as a hologram, and lights up showing the furious face of the redheaded Goa'uld.

**"I surrender." **Kagutsuchi grounds out, looking furious that he has to do such a thing. **"Allow me to leave and I shall never return to your territory."**

I smirk at that, the coward is acting exactly like I expect.

I glance around at my crew, all of whom are awaiting my answers, their expressions showing that they want the Goa'uld destroyed.

**_"Now, why would I do that?."_** I chuckle as my power swirls to life around me, the golden light further illuminating the bridge. **_"You are a Goa'uld, a slaver and an oppressor of the innocent, you are undeserving of my mercy. Prepare to be terminated."_**

My voice is positively frigid, I may show kindness and mercy to my subjects but I have none for my enemies, the Goa'uld most of all.

**"No!"** Kagutsuchi rages, slamming his hand down on a control pad. **"I will not allow this."**

I smirk at his loss of composure, how quickly his arrogance fades.

_**"If it makes you feel any better, your warriors will survive this altercation,"**_ I continue, diving into the sensors and transporters once again. _**"In fact, they're being beamed out right now."**_

The screen flashes white, the crew of the Ha'tak being beamed away to my detention cells, killing Jaffa in the midst of battle is fine with me but slaughtering them after they've surrendered is not; my soldiers would not respect that decision.

**"You dare refuse me?" **the Goa'uld roars, now alone in his vessel.** "I will slaughter you, impostor!"**

_**"Good bye Kagutsuchi, it has been a pleasure."**_ I reply, beaming a simple Naquadah bomb right next to his engines, there's no need to waste an anti-matter bomb on such a pathetic foe.

**"I will n-"**

His rant is cut off as the bomb detonates, beginning a chain reaction that destroys the entire vessel.

"The vessel has been destroyed my lord."

"Good, continue to the planet." I command, beaming the scrap metal into the cargo bay.

This battle has been a great test for my vessel, the Sword proving able to handle three Goa'uld Ha'tak with relative ease, I'm pleased with my creation.

-Beep-

"My lord, there is a vessel escaping!"

My eyes narrow as I dive into the sensors again, locking onto the escaping vessel, it's a Tel'tak with only one life sign aboard, that little cockroach.

"It's Kagutsuchi, he managed to escape the explosion." I mutter, turning to the crew, all of whom look furious as they observe the escaping vessel. "Leave him, I shall deal with him personally."

With that I'm gone, flickering into the small transport vessel and appearing before Kagutsuchi. The second I appear, the Goa'uld exclaims in shock, his hand flying up as his hand device lights up with power.

A wave of kinetic force comes flying at me, the Goa'uld activating his hand device before I can react, sending me flying into one of the walls of the vessel. Kagutsuchi's eyes widen when my form explodes into hundreds of black ravens, ravens which fly around the small room before reforming into my body.

_**"That was foolish Kagutsuchi."**_ I chuckle, amused at the wide eyed look on his face.

**"W-what are you?"** The Goa'uld stutters, his expression a mix of shock and fear.

I smirk at him and raise an arm, my eyes glowing as ebony flames spring to life in my hand.

_**"A true god."**_

* * *

A smirk crosses my face as I recline in my command chair, my eyes fixed on the ball of fire burning impossibly in the vacuum of space.

"The worm is dead, continue to the planet." I command, taking in the pleased faces if my crew.

This little encounter has been a lot of fun, if a little too easy.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter.**

**By the way, for those that are curious, the current date is November of 1993.**


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